Dark Calamity Vanilla Edition
by Creators of Calamity
Summary: Selena, a telekinetic, is attempting to gather several villains to show that the good guys don't always win. But how long will they last? Rated for extreme language and perverted jokes. Contains characters from The Incredibles, Oliver!, and Inkheart.
1. Chapter 1

Authors' Note: Dark Calamity is a mass crossover, taking villains from The Incredibles, Oliver!, and Inkheart. Selena's "Silvertongue" ability is also from Inkheart. Although it's possible to understand without having knowledge of the stories, as the personalities of the characters are broadcasted loud and clear.

Also, Rylan, Cyrus, and Selena are OC's. You're not expected to know them.

* * *

Rylan ducked as a chair flew past his head. "Show yourself!" he yelled at the figure in the shadows. "And knock it off, I'll go with the police if that's what you want!" he added as a brick narrowly missed his ear.

Selena had no need to shout... she didn't even have to speak_. You know they would take you back right away if you did_, she thought maliciously. _Besides. Only some tough git who was full of himself would dare to try and arrest me_. She lifted up another brick and sent it flying.

"Wait... Sele-" he said, but was interrupted with a brick colliding with the side of his head. "OUCH! DAMN IT!" he swore as he fell on his side. Rubbing the sore spot where the brick hit, he shouted, "STOP IT, SELENA! I know it's you, only you would be able to throw bricks at me without moving, only you would be able to avoid arrest and scare the living hell out of me at the same time. Now show yourself!"

Selena's mouth twitched. It was as close to a laugh as Selena got. She stepped out into a ray of moonlight, only because he had succeeded at her guessing game. "Right here..." Her pale eyes twinkled.

Rylan blinked rapidly. He hadn't actually expected it to be her, it was just a guess. "Listen, Selena. I was wrong. You were right. I did need you. You know I was imprisoned shortly after you left. You were better than I gave you credit for." _Maybe if you're nice, she'll come back. Maybe you can regain all that power. Shit, forgot she could read minds! DAMN IT._

"You needed me just as much as... well." Selena stopped. She was glad she was the telepath- what had almost slipped out of her mouth was an odd thought. But no. Her heart was much darker than Nancy's. Hell, it was darker than Sikes's. It was just a coincidence. "Well. Screw what I was about to say. I've been doing absolutely fine without you... I don't need to help you at all." She glared at Rylan.

His eyes began to glow bright green. "Of course you don't need to help me," he nearly whispered. "But the question is, do you want to? You're much better than I. I'm asking you nicely."

_Oh shit. He's… craaaaaap..._

Selena stared. After all of the things she learned after being fired, she had lost her ability to withstand this.

"Uh..."

"Come here, Selena." He smiled as gently as is possible for a psychopathic murderer.

Selena tried to close her eyes, to close her mind, but...She walked.

"Now then..." he whispered. "Are you going to help me?"

_COME ON SELENA, WAKE UP! THIS ISN'T YOU! THIS IS RYLAN! HE'S GOT YOU, DAMMIT!_

"I..." Selena stopped. She heard something screaming...

And then she put it off.

"I will." She said.

"Thank you." He smirked. "I'm so glad we're working together again." His power had been drained more than he had noticed, and his eyes lost their green glow and became dark once more. Unluckily, he didn't realize it until it was too late.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO TO ME?!" Selena shouted. She lifted him up by the neck.

"You will hang if you don't ANSWER!" She yelled.

Rylan began to claw desperately at his throat. No... this couldn't be happening... he couldn't be beaten by her...

"I used my ability. Surely you remember that part of me?" he managed to croak out. The world was beginning to darken on the edges of his vision.

She dropped him. "WHAT ABILITY?!"

Rylan fell and gasped for air. "My ability," he said, panting, "that lets me control minds."

"Well, that most certainly would explain me," she growled, more to herself than to him.

"Yes. You were young and impressionable. It was almost too easy. Although, obviously, since you've grown, you've gotten stronger, and controlling you has taken its toll on me. After a while you just started going on you own, and you corrupted yourself. And that was when I started to worry."

Selena snorted. "Worry? YOU? Only for YOUR power!"

_Well, she's got you there._

"Yes, I do."

Selena looked up.

"Erm. I mean… You didn't say anything at all. Uh-uh."

"I know. And I'm impressed. Now I know that you have issues with me, but they're in the past. So I'm going to ask again, but this time with a slight change. Would you like to work alongside me, as my right-hand person?"

"What are you planning on now...?" Selena asked, glaring at Rylan. "Because it's bound to fail. Better not be too important."

"I don't know yet..." He looked down, embarrassed.

Selena's mouth twitched again. "What exactly do you want me for, then? Besides power, that is."

Rylan remained silent. He didn't really know.

And then, the smallest chuckle came from Selena's throat. She jumped a bit. It was something she had never heard.

"Well. I must say. You are a fair example of how the bad guys get terrible publicity. Always caught..." She snickered.

"Wait..." he glared. "You were the one who ratted me out, weren't you?! Seeing as how I just so conveniently got caught right after you left!"

"Come now, how would I do that... I'm just as wanted as you are..." She, however, let another snicker out.

"It's called an anonymous telephone call."

_Shut UP, SELENA!_

"Yes..." She growled a bit. "I was the one."

"I KNEW IT!" Rylan jumped to his feet furiously. "I KNEW I COULD NEVER TRUST YOU, YOU DIRTY LITTLE BITCH!"

"Coming from a fucking little son of one, I don't see why you're talking? It's your fault for releasing me." She glared. "So much for my idea, then."

"I had to release you, otherwise you'd have become... this," he spat, "much faster. And what idea might that have been?"

"Never you mind, I can just take care of it myself." She most certainly could. "Besides. What's it matter to you what I become?"

"I don't know, maybe I just wanted to help. You can go far, kid, but if you want to make it there, you need me. You know it."

"Hell if I need YOU. You've obviously had little access to a paper these days- Personally, I prefer the Times... They get most of the details on my latest attacks correct, compared to the others."

She took the latest newspaper she had stolen and threw it at him.

"READING would do you good." And then she chuckled again.

Rylan bit his lip. He was more or less at a loss for words. How did it come to this? If he hadn't let her go, he wouldn't have missed three years, they would've been fine... And now look where he was. Speechless in front of a former subordinate trying to convince her he was worth something.

"Well. I suppose you would be good for something, then... if you really do have a power and it's just not your behaviour..." She pulled a book out of her black coat. She always carried THAT with her... "This is a book. Maybe you've heard of one?" Selena said. She knew he could read, but she just loved to see him squirm. "This one's Oliver Twist."

"I know what Oliver Twist is. I'm not stupid." He grimaced. "And I'm guessing from your attire that you know who Sikes is. Well, so do I, he was my favorite character."

Shock crossed Selena's face for a split-second, and just as fast as it came, it was gone. "Well. I know for a FACT that he would try killing anyone within a mile of here. Not that it's bad, but he wouldn't listen to me, period." She paused, hoping Rylan's mind hadn't been dulled by jail.

"And this matters why? He's a fictional character. Of course he would try to kill everyone, but he's not REAL. Have you gone insane since I've been gone?"

She chuckled. "Oh, I've done many things since you've been gone." She opened the book. "Would you like to find out?"

She shuffled through the pages.

"I suppose," he said with a smirk. Whatever she was about to do wouldn't be that bad... right?

She snorted. She had heard that. "Oh, if done correctly, it can be terrible... I need an animate object- bird, cat, something! Quick!" she snapped.

"Ugh. Why do I bother..." She leaned out the window.

"There are a bunch of alley cats outside..."

"I see that now, fool." She lifted one up by the throat. It was soon dead. "Now... It's not quite animate anymore, but it'll do."

Rylan blinked.

Selena began to speak. "The man who growled out these words, was a stoutly-built fellow of about five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half boots, and grey cotton stockings which inclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large swelling calves;--the kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them.

He had a brown hat on his head, and a dirty belcher handkerchief round his neck: with the long frayed ends of which he smeared the beer from his face as he spoke. He disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of three days' growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by a blow."

Her mouth twisted and turned, the words had a sense of malice... The cat, not long dead, disappeared, and before the two was the stout man described.

"NOW, RYLAN! WHILE HE'S CONFUSED!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"GET HIM!" She screamed.

Rylan's confused state vanished in a blink as he realized what she was talking about, and made eye contact with the newly materialized Sikes.

"What the BLOODY HELL is going on here? DAMMIT, WHERE AM I?!" Sikes started to shout... but he lost his anger when Rylan finally got it.

"Whew..." Selena said. The only man that gave her any worry at all... was standing right in front of her.

"Now what?" Rylan inquired.

"Actually... um... " Selena started. "I… forgot." It wasn't her fault, everything going through her mind disappeared when she started reading of Sikes.

"Well, isn't that just great. I can't hold him here forever, you took a lot out of me. Luckily he's not too hard."

"Shit," she said- and then she GIGGLED.

_He's not too hard! HAHAHA!_

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she shouted at herself. She was back to normal again.

Rylan realized his innuendo and almost burst into laughter himself. Luckily he had learned how to maintain his composure when controlling someone.

"Shut up, it wasn't that funny."

"Um... Hang on." She took the book back out and read the sentences in backward order. Sikes was gone, and that dead cat was back.

"Next time, I'm going to think before I do." She said. There was something wrong with her...

Rylan snickered. "Now you know how I feel."

"Truthfully, YOU know how I feel, but yeah." Selena was giggling like a little girl. This was NOT good. Did she lose her evil temperament when she read Sikes into the world?

Selena's giggling slowly tapered off. Good. She was back to normal again. "Alright, now, here's what I want to... erm. Well, let's just get this over with- DO." She snickered. "I want to use these villains to prove that bad guys don't always lose... Villains including Sikes and Basta from Inkheart. Now, they're both not the brightest of the bunch, but we need strength on our side too. We'll take the world by storm…"

"Has your 'Silvertongue ability' spread to films? Because I can think of one very useful person from an animated film..."

"Uh... sorry, no. Films leave no imagination left, they're as close to real life as they can be." Selena sat in the chair that she had thrown at Rylan earlier and crossed her legs. "Besides. As much help as Syndrome would be, we've got enough brainpower."

He was about to say "You read my mind" when he realized that she had. "What about fanfiction? And I had more than one reasoning for bringing him here… I also wanted to test my ability on... people... closer to my intellect. I don't know how it works on them since I've never met one. No offense intended."

"Sure." Selena said darkly. "Anyway... It depends on the fiction. As close as it is to the real character... I haven't seen a film in ages. I snuck into a musical once… using the back door... but that's another story."

"Well, if it depends on that... I'm sure we could find something. Although it'll take a while to find a good one. Meaning we should probably put it off for a while and just concentrate on the others."

"Yes... so you're with the idea, then?"

"Villains never win. I'm, quite frankly sick of it. So yes."

"Great," Selena said. "Now... we need to bring Sikes back here... and after the last incident, it might be a bit...harder." She smirked a bit.

"Don't mock me."

"Prepare yourself," she snorted. It just wasn't getting old. "Alright. Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Selena opened the book again. She realized she was looking forward to having Sikes back...she began to read again.


	2. Chapter 2

"...He disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of three days' growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by a blow." The cat was gone again, and Sikes was most certainly back.

The strange sensation of losing her anger happened again... she almost literally lost herself in the book.

This time, Rylan really was ready.

"William Sikes," he said before setting his ability into motion.

"Who the HELL are you?! And where is this? I asked this five seconds ago!" Sikes said. Selena jumped at this.

"It- it was only five seconds?!"

"Sikes," Rylan ordered calmly. "Over here."

Selena crossed her fingers. Sikes lost a bit of his anger- he even dropped his crowbar- and then walked over to Rylan calmly.

_YES!_

"Now what?" he asked Selena.

"We need to keep him that way..." Selena said, uncertainly. "I haven't thought it out much... We can't just go right away... where's the drama in that?!"

"Alright then. I can make it permanent, but it'll take a lot of energy, something I don't have much of. But I think I've got enough to overpower him."

And that's just what Rylan did.

Selena's mind groped around and grabbed a thought from someone's mind.

_Where am I? What's going on? Who am I again?_

_Oh shit._

"Rylan… I think you…" Selena couldn't say it. It was not a good thing to say...

"I what?"

"...Rylan, I think you did it a little too hard."

Rylan snickered, then regained his composure. "What makes you think that?"

"He's lost all sense of self... He doesn't even know his name..." Selena said.

She was worried... She was losing it.

"Ah, no, nothing's wrong. That just happens, it's very temporary, it'll wear off in a few minutes. I don't have enough energy to do any serious damage to his mind..."

Her pale eyes betrayed her- they sparkled with emotion.

_Dammit. Why now?_

"Sikes will be okay. Don't worry. In fact he should be recovering right about... now."

She searched Sikes's mind desperately. _Where the hell did she go? That kid that followed her, where-_ Sikes turned around.

Selena murmured slightly, "Oh shit."

Underneath her black coat was a very Nancy outfit.

She buttoned up the coat quickly, but not quickly enough.

"NANCY, you TRAITOR!" He spat at Selena.

The first words out of her mouth were not very helpful. "I NEVER SAID NUFFINK!" She screamed as he grabbed her neck.

"SIKES!" Rylan barked.

She was released. "Who are you, then? Well?" Sikes growled.

Selena stuttered a bit. "I-I'm Sy-er, Selena- um. Yeah..."

"Sikes. Come over here."

Sikes did. He then asked, "And who the hell is this git?"

"My name is Rylan," he said, a small eye twitch betraying his otherwise calm countenance. "And you are to listen to me no matter what."

"Nobody mentions my name, RYLAN." He spat. However, he did not go to grab his crowbar as he would have normally. He was completely under Rylan's control.

Rylan's eye twitched again. "But then how am I to address you?"

Selena giggled.

"ENOUGH FROM YOU!" Sikes shouted. She stopped.

"..."

"Enough from YOU. You have no room to talk here. You are to obey her commands as you are mine, understand?"

"Yes, Rylan." He growled.

"Thank you." Rylan paused. "Now back to the question. If you do not wish for me to use your name, how am I to address you?"

"Just call him Sikes. Unless he wishes to be called William..." Selena grinned. That was sure to piss Sikes off.

And sure enough, it did. However, he instead said, "Just call me Sikes... if you must 'address' me. This is a bunch of rubbish. Coming off all gentle and that shit... I can see you're like I am. You and that girl."

"You'd be right there. That's why you're here. I'm just better at hiding my emotions than you are."

Selena sat back and watched this. It was quite funny, really, and when "As Long As He Needs Me" is stuck in your head, you need something funny to watch.

"That's why I'm here, eh?" Sikes asked.

Rylan nodded. "We require your... unique assistance."

"And what exactly do you need it for?"

"Well... we're trying to prove that... our kind... doesn't always fail. And you would be a great help in that."

"Ah, you called the right man, then. I've NEVER been caught by the Runners." Sikes boasted. Selena coughed.

"Are you sure about that? When you were a child, in Fagin's little band of characters, you NEVER got caught?" She asked, surprised.

Sikes growled a bit.

Rylan laughed a bit mentally. "We know a lot about you, Sikes, don't think you can get away with lying."

"How the BLOODY HELL do you know this much about me?"

"You're very, VERY famous in our time," Selena answered quickly. "Your name has been kept for 200 years."

Rylan mentally thanked Selena for the backup. He wouldn't have been able to do that.

_Almost anytime. Whenever I've got a chance of death_, she said to Rylan mentally.

Sikes grinned. "Is it really?"

Rylan nodded. "Yes. A great majority of people will know you and look upon you with fear."

Selena almost giggled, but kept it in. "Great fear."

_Because he's from a book!_

_But he doesn't know that._

_No, but a LOT of children haven't read Oliver Twist. They'll just think he's dressed up for a play or something!_

_Then we'll just have to inform him somehow that the children won't know him..._

_...but why? Why wouldn't they know him? He's a household name in his world!_

_I don't know... maybe because their parents don't think they should know about him quite yet because they don't want to strike fear into the hearts of young children?_

_Sounds good enough…_

_Should've thought before… well. you know._

_Probably, but there's nothing we can do now._

Sikes noticed a prolonged silence.

"What the hell is up with you two?"

"Nothing," Rylan said quickly. "Just thinking. Mostly reflecting on how parents are so afraid that if they mention your name, their kids will go insane from fear, and so they don't talk about you until they think their children are sufficiently mature. So most children will not know your name, but a select few will."

Selena breathed a sigh of relief.

"My… mother told me about you when I was a little girl." Selena started, her mind in fast motion now. "I'm so terrified standing here... I have to sit!"

Rylan, under any other circumstances, would've grinned.

"It's frightening... because as I said before, it's been a good 200 years."

Sikes looked at her funny.

"When did you say that?! How did I get here?! YOU'RE A WITCH!" he shouted.

"Calm down, Sikes." Rylan grimaced. Things could get ugly.

_Sorry, but I had said it before, I thought he just passed over it as a detail that didn't matter! I guess he thought I said 20..._

_It's okay, we'll deal with it somehow... We just need to figure out how._

"I-I-I..." Selena stuttered.

She was ready to give up, to say, yes, she was a 'witch.' She had the powers of one, after all…

She could read minds.

She could move things without moving herself at all.

"Sikes..." Rylan muttered.

_Selena, what are you going to tell him?! We can handle his reaction, just say you're a witch! Maybe he'll be afraid of you then!_

"I... am a witch..." She said. She moved her hand and his brown hat fell off. She concentrated on his coat, and it came off. She took off hers and put on his for a moment. "Holy shit, this thing's WARM compared to mine!" Selena said in surprise.

Sikes went for his crowbar. Selena, however, was three steps ahead.

She already had it in her hand by the time he got to where it was.

"Looking for this? Your 'jemmy's' useless."

"Gi-give that back to me, you witch..." Sikes said, looking at Selena.

"You know, some people call me the Sikes of the time period. Now, I'm not as good as you, but... Here's why they call me that." She grabbed him by the neck with her mind, and she lifted him up for a moment. She then put him back down. "If you hurt me... I-I-I'll..." She was trembling. So much for being a strong woman!

"Then I'll have to deal with you," Rylan picked up from where she left off. "If you're afraid of what she can do, you should be terrified of me."

"Ye-yeah," Selena said.

_I think... you're more in charge of this than I am... _

_That's because you like Sikes more than I do. He was alright, I'll give him that, but he wasn't my favorite villain._

She would have glared at Rylan had she not been in this situation. Anything about her having emotion pissed her off... even though she DID have some.

_You had better be ready to take charge when we get Syndrome in here, though..._

_Right._

"So... Sikes, do you want to see why you have more reason to be afraid of me?" Rylan grinned sadistically.

_DON'T hurt him more than he can take! _

_I'm not going to damage his mind, just deflate his ego a bit..._

_F-f-fine..._

"Well?"

"I'd love to see how a git like you could overthrow me, YES!" He growled, his hands ready to kill. "Your skinny little neck would be broken to pieces..." he grumbled.

"Alright then." Rylan grinned even wider. "Punch yourself."

_RYLAN!_

_WHAT?! He won't hurt himself..._

Sikes did, much to his bewilderment.

_See? I'm just trying to freak him out a bit._

"Goddammit, Rylan, that's enough."

"Fine. I was just trying to make a point."

Selena wiped a few tears from her eyes. There was a reason why she always had the stolen Oliver Twist with her, why she snuck into the musical Oliver...

Sikes looked at Selena. "There's something wrong with the girl. I don't think she's a good one to have, Rylan."

"Incidentally... She could easily kill me if she wanted to... Although it used to be reversed, I'm now, regrettably, her subordinate."

"Yeah, sure," Sikes said, smirking. "This little thing who is so easily upset? I bet she's never killed in her life."

Selena looked at Sikes. "You haven't yet, either. I've only harmed. Never killed… yet." Selena said. "Yes. But you..."

She trailed off, and it almost sounded like a threat.

"She nearly killed me not an hour ago," Rylan added.

"I've almost killed. Several times. I wanted to..." Selena said.

She realized she was still wearing Sikes's coat. She took it off and gave it back to him. "You look more like the villain you are with that. I look like a teen playing dress up with her little kiddy clothes," She said. She was a little taller than him without his hat, after all. His hat... "Oh, and here's that." She lifted the hat off the ground and put it back on his head with her telekinesis.

She put on her coat and groaned at how cold it was.

"So now you see why you shouldn't defy either of us. We could easily kill you..."

"If we needed to," Selena finished.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Just an FYI, the snippet that Selena reads doesn't belong to us. It's from Comics, Cookies, and Revenge. READ IT NOW. DANI COMMANDS YOU.

* * *

Rylan ushered Selena over to the computer. "I got one."

Selena came over. "Syndrome, huh..."

Rylan grinned. "He's going to be useful..."

"I suppose he's smart enough, but... he's rather recent..." She couldn't help but smirk.

"You're just saying that because..." He left the rest to his mind, seeing as how Sikes was in the room.

_Because you like Sikes._

_Shut up. Or, don't think._

Rylan grinned and turned back to the computer.

"So... Here's the thing. If you can't control him, I've got to be able to get him back right away. So, I need to read through this several times in my mind... so I can say it all backwards."

"I could just type it backwards, you know... That way we just pull up the document and you read..."

"Well, it needs to be printed."

"Fine..." Rylan copied the snippet onto a document, then typed it up backwards underneath and printed it.

"There you go. Instant genius."

"Thank you," Selena said, ignoring the genius comment. She read... and reread...When she was sure of herself, she asked yet again... "Are you prepared?"

She looked over her shoulder at Sikes, who was having fun with a flashlight. Electricity is pretty neat.

"Yes, I think I've had sufficient time to rest..."

"Okay," Selena said, getting herself ready.

"Buddy Pine was as dead as a doornail. But Syndrome, on the other hand, was very much alive. How could that be? Simple. "He was a careful man, and one who was not particularly well disposed towards personal injury. Perhaps this stemmed from an innate trepidation, or perhaps it had been instilled there by impressionable years filled with peer abuse. In any case, he knew better than to put himself into a situation that there was a possibility he might not walk out of. Especially when there was a wicked robot duplicate that needed testing.  
"That's right, a robot duplicate, controlled by remote from a super-secret location miles away from his island base. His former base, as it was now in the possession of the United States Government. Why bother with a back-up plan? After all, the first plan had been foolproof, nothing could possibly go wrong. Syndrome was vain, grandiose, pompous even, but he wasn't a fool."

There was Syndrome. Alive as he could be... he looked a bit different. Less… animated.

Syndrome blinked. "Wh... what the hell...?"

Sikes looked over. "You'll get used to it," He said, with unusual contentment in his voice.

Selena giggled a bit.

"Wait... is that Bill Sikes?" Syndrome said, a hint of confusion and possibly fear creeping into his voice.

"WHAT IS IT?" Sikes shouted from the back.

"Yes," Rylan replied, somewhat ignoring Sikes.

"Alright, what the hell is going on here? You!" He pointed at Selena. "You look like you've got answers."

Selena went up in the air. She grumbled a bit, and she brought Syndrome with her.

"This is what's going on. We're sick of the bad guys losing all the time, so we're beefing up our defenses and then we're going to take the world by storm. Sound good?"

"Better than good, that sounds brilliant!" Syndrome exclaimed. "I mean, if you can't join 'em, beat 'em, right?"

"Uh... Yeah. Sure. Now, if you'll let me down, I'll do the same."

"Oh, sorry!" Syndrome stopped using his zero-point energy. He hadn't realized he had even turned it on... maybe he was just a bit jumpy from not knowing where the hell he was.

Selena, in turn, let Syndrome down. After being dropped on her butt, that is.

_No need to even subdue him, eh?_

_You tell me, does he seem out of it or not?_

_Well... he's a little bit. Not as much as Sikes was... but then again, you just wanted to hurt me. Or him. Or both._

_Well, not really... I think Syndrome's a calmer person... Probably..._

_I suppose._

_I mean, he's still a mass murderer, but he's not as likely to blow his top as Mr. "MY NAME" over there._

_Mr. Sikes is all talk. The first time he murders someone is actually when he murders Nancy. And he hasn't done that yet. He's hurt people before, but he's never killed until then._

_But he has mass murderer potential... as do you._

_Thanks._

The odd silence was broken. "The light won't come on anymore, Rylan. I think the oil's gone..." Sikes said.

"Is he playing with a flashlight?" Syndrome asked quizzically, but went unanswered.

"The batteries are dead, Sikes, it doesn't need oil. I'll go get replacements..." Rylan went down the stairs to get new batteries.

"I've never needed a torch or lantern or anything, Nancy's always worried that something will seem off if there's someone wandering without one, but she should be more worried about me when I get back... The traitor."

Selena avoided this and thought downstairs.

_Would you like some help?_

_Getting batteries? No, I think I can handle this._

She imagined a set of batteries and then imagined Rylan getting them.

_You have them now?_

_Yeah. Coming back up._

"He needs help with the smallest of things..." She grumbled quietly.

Rylan returned with a pair of thick batteries.

"Let me borrow that for a minute," he said to Sikes, asking for the flashlight.

"You better fix it." He grumbled.

Rylan unscrewed the top and turned it over. The old batteries fell out and he replaced them with the new ones, then screwed the top back on.

"Good as new."

Sikes took it back and pressed the button. The light gleamed in his eyes. "AUGH, the EYES!"

Syndrome burst into laughter, collapsing to the ground.

"That's not a very good idea," Rylan commented to the ginger on the floor.

"What the HELL are you laughing at me for?!" Sikes held the flashlight correctly and shone it in Syndrome's eyes.

"AHH!"

"NOW DOESN'T THAT HURT?!" He exclaimed.

"QUIT IT!"

Sikes was about to beat Syndrome with the flashlight when Selena took it from his hands and turned the light off. "You two are working together... you MUST BEHAVE." She glared at Syndrome especially.

"Hey, what are you looking at me for? Do I detect a hint of favoritism?"

"No you do NOT!" She shouted, and then she gave the flashlight back to Sikes.

"I think I do..."

Rylan grinned inwardly.

_Shut the fuck up._

_You're just saying that because he's right._

She glared at Sikes. "And you shall NOT harm a fellow villain… at this point in time."

_He doesn't need to know he's right, thank you very much!_

_He already knows it. They don't call him a genius for nothing._

_Dammit. Hey, you. Syn-drone._

_WHAT THE HELL?! And that's not my name!_

_Now who's going on about their name?_

_It's Syn-DROME._

_Whatever, sinny boy. You and Rylan… are in on it. But shut up, okay? OR I will SERIOUSLY hurt you._

_In on what?_

_(So much for genius.) _she thought, choosing not to project it.

_Never mind, Syndrone. _

_THAT'S NOT MY NAME!_

Selena growled a bit and said, "I've got to go... feed my cat."

She jumped into the windowsill, got the rope ready, and fell like she had done several years before.

Rylan blinked. "I didn't know she had a cat..."

She started to run, picking up an alley cat. She ran around what would have been a 'block-' had the alleys been streets.

And then she put the cat back down and stacked up a few boxes and dumpsters. She climbed them a bit, and then grabbed the rope and pulled herself up with it. "Guess who's back."

"Hey." Rylan said. Syndrome was sitting quietly in the corner.

"Turns out my power works on geniuses too."

"Well, good..." Selena grumbled.

"They weren't getting along... Syndrome kept mocking Sikes and I knew if I didn't subdue him it would keep happening, and no matter what I tried to do Sikes would snap eventually. So I had to for all of our well-beings."

"Yes, I suppose so."

Sikes was sitting on the opposite side of the room... brooding. "I could kill him in an instant."

Selena moved her lips as she projected.

_I know you could. But it's not a good idea, because he could kill you just as quickly._

Sikes snorted.

"Mr. Muscle-less? Kill me?!"

Syndrome replied quietly, barely loud enough to hear... "Do you want a demonstration?"

"No!" Selena shouted. Sikes had jumped up from his seat, as had Syndrome.

"Here's your demonstration!" Syndrome shouted, using zero-point energy to bash Sikes against the wall.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Rylan shouted.

"What?" Syndrome said innocently. "He wanted a demonstration, HE GETS A FUCKIN DEMONSTRATION!"

"NO!" Selena screamed. She threw Syndrome against his respective wall.

"Get offa me! He asked for it!"

"Oh, but I am 'offa' you." She pressed him harder against the wall.

"What the HELL IS GOING ON?! You're a Super, aren't you? You put me up to this! I'm gonna fuckin KILL YOU!"

"Syndrome!" Rylan shouted.

"Shut the hell up! You knew it too! You're a Super too, aren't you?!"

"You're so far OFF with that word, Super... I'm more of a witch than a Super..." Selena growled.

"But you're telekinetic, you're a Super!" he growled back.

"Would you both KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY?!" Rylan shouted.

She was slowly working upwards. Soon she was going to get his neck... or whatever was there.

"Selena! Put him down! I can handle this!"

"You HAVEN'T DONE!" But she lost her concentration.

"That's because you're IN THE WAY! He's too angry, I won't be able to convince him to so much as glance at me!"

Syndrome fell to the ground. "Leave the others alone, Sin-drone. Because there's going to be more coming."

"SHUT UP! THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

"You need to shut up, Syndrome," Rylan growled. "You're making it worse. Now calm down and leave Sikes and Selena alone."

"He started it..."

"I don't care who started it! I'm finishing it!"

_I could've taken care of him,_ Sikes thought.

"Maybe this was a bad idea..." Selena said. "Villains don't get along."

_And endangering them all… How stupid of a plan was this...? I should think more…_

"Then we keep them separate. And if we can't keep them separate, we keep them subdued. Completely."

Selena looked at Sikes, who was still glaring at Syndrome.

"If they're all quiet and just sitting around off in their own little world, they'll be fine. If we give Syndrome some materials to invent things and we let Sikes keep the flashlight, they won't notice each other. They'll be too focused on what they're doing to get in a fight."

"But-" Selena started...

"What?"

"We don't have to completely do it, then, right?"

"I will at least a little, but they'll do the rest on their own. I could probably even get them to believe that the other isn't in the room..."

"Okay..."

"You'd never get me to believe such garbage..." Syndrome started, but shut up with a glare from Rylan.

"Au contraire... I believe that I can make you believe whatever I want you to."

"That's rubbish..." Sikes said.

"Shut up, Sikes, I already showed you that I can control you, you have that nasty bruise on your cheek to remind you of that."

"Do it again!" Syndrome exclaimed like a kid in a candy store.

Sikes rubbed his face a bit. His eye and now his face...

"Make him hit himself!"

Rylan glared.

_Why do I even open my mouth…_

Selena was ready to make Syndrome punch himself.

_Because you think you're a friggin' genius. The smartest- and wisest- person in the world keeps his mouth shut, I read in a fortune cookie._

_That fortune cookie was wrong... Syndrome's the smartest person in the room and he can't keep his mouth shut. Smart people usually can't resist making a comeback when presented with an opportunity._

_But smart and wise... well. No one in here's really wise, are they._

_Not particularly._

Selena snorted.

_You said it, not me._

It had been a long time since Selena felt this childish. She always spoke up about wisdom and smarts, and always got left behind.

"Hey. Make him hit himself," Syndrome started, then felt a nice smack to the jaw. He stared at the hand that betrayed him.

"That's what you get for asking for me to inflict pain on a fellow villain. Remember that."

"Though you've already done yourself," Selena said, smirking.

"I'm teaching him a lesson."

"Okay."

"I've got to go get some stuff so that I can keep them occupied. Don't let them kill each other, and DON'T KILL SYNDROME. Got it?"

"Got it..."

She sighed. Killing Syndrome would be great, but then Rylan would more than likely kill Sikes, and he wasn't supposed to die in this world.

Well, hell, he wasn't even supposed to be IN this world, but she had changed that...

Rylan snorted. "Warn me if anything bad happens."

"Most certainly."

He nodded and walked downstairs and out the door, sights set on a mall not too far away.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, since I know we'll get questions, here's a clarification of the Christmas Lights sequence. Things in italics are memories. Things in parentheses are Selena's thoughts. And things in bold parentheses are Syndrome's thoughts. There. Explanation done.

* * *

Syndrome sat down, looking some kind of combination between depressed and furious.

"Damn that man and his power..."

He glanced up at Selena. "And you, too. If it weren't for you I could be getting revenge right now." His expression turned sour.

"Sweet, sweet revenge..."

"Revenge is great... " Sikes said, glaring at Syndrome.

"Both of you, knock it off!"

"He's right though..."

"Yes, I know it is. I just spent a lot of my time today getting it." Selena said.

Syndrome smirked. "On Rylan, right?"

"Yeah, it was brilliant."

"It usually is. Unless you get foiled... that's why I'm here, I guess..."

"I hate FOILing. Of course, I hate LIOF-ing even more..." Selena whispered. She was in the middle of the room, smack dab between the two villains.

Syndrome sighed. "This is boring."

Selena looked over. Sikes didn't think so- he had his flashlight.

Syndrome looked over as well. "I wish I could find entertainment with something as simple as a flashlight." He sighed again.

"He's from 19th century London. What do you expect?"

"Well I'm not. And I'm bored. So what am I supposed to do? I know you won't let me get away with chucking pencils at him..."

"Use those pencils to design something... " Selena said. She took some paper from the printer and gave it to Syndrome.

Syndrome grinned and began scribbling a design on the paper.

"I used to doodle all the time, before I ended up like this." Selena said. "Now granted, I was terrible then… Still am, really."

She crossed the room and looked at the paper.

A rough drawing on the paper depicted his current gloves with what seemed to be a new addition. There was a small side note near the fingertips that read "taser option".

Taser gloves.

He was drawing a modification to his gloves so that he could shock someone.

"Oh, what do you need tas-" She read his mind suddenly.

"YOU GIT!"

Syndrome grinned.

"I could use them against Rylan, too, the next time he tries to use his power on me..."

"Don't make me GET Rylan."

Syndrome sighed. "You tell me to draw something, and then I draw something and you get mad..." he muttered angrily.

"Drawing it isn't the bad thing. It's that I know you'll make it with the 101 items in this room a Ravenclaw could use to kill someone."

"What's a Ravenclaw?" Syndrome inquired.

"Smartest grouping of people in a book series… wait. You've heard of Sikes, but not Harry Potter?"

"Shut up... I've heard of it but never read it. Didn't think I'd be very interested..."

"Well, the main character's a drag, but I'm sure you'd like the villain."

"Do you have a copy?"

"I have one that I stole at the house..."

Selena stopped.

"You almost tricked me, dammit! You were going to get me to leave!"

Syndrome turned bright red.

"I wouldn't be able to do anything even if you left, you know... Unless Sikes started something, I was told to remain calm and stay put..."

"But knowing you two… I won't get it until Rylan returns. Which makes me wonder... what the hell is he doing?"

"I'm back," he replied. "I've got some extra flashlight batteries and some other stuff for Syndrome."

Selena laughed.

"Uh… wait."

"Do you have anything that can be modified to become a taser? Because if you do, you might want to get rid of it." She took the paper and gave it to Rylan.

"I don't think so... I mean, I have wires and stuff... Wait... Syndrome, the batteries are officially off-limits. Unless you specifically ask me or Selena to use them and we supervise what you're doing. Oh, and what's this?"

Rylan looked down at the paper. Near the "taser option" was written "so I can shock that dumbass Sikes and that freak Rylan. And probably the other freak, the girl."

"Why were you planning on shocking me?"

"Because I don't like being controlled..."

"Tell you the truth, no one really does..." Selena said. She squirmed a bit- her coat was still cold. Now, sure, she had just recently stolen this one, but still!

"So everyone hates Rylan?"

"Everyone hates Rylan, yes."

"Shut the hell up."

"But then again, everyone hates me, and only one person even likes Sikes," Selena paused, "And she supposedly betrayed him."

"And everyone hates you too, Syndrome, don't forget that," Rylan added.

Syndrome frowned. "Don't remind me..."

_He has a fan base though, even though it's abandoned, right?_

_Yeah, but he doesn't know that... plus Sikes probably does too. And you've probably got an insane fanboy somewhere if you're in the news a lot... as I have an insane fangirl... named Eurydice..._

_I would hate to have that name... such an OLD name. And a fanboy? HAH. Sikes appeared about 200 years ago. I don't think he has much of a fanbase- though Dodger does._

_You'd be surprised..._

_I most certainly would be surprised if Sikes had a fanbase._

_Well... you're a fan aren't you?_

_Shuddup._

_And if there's one fangirl, there WILL be more to follow..._

_Greaaaaaaaaat._

Her facial expression crossed the whole room at the same time.

"What the hell is with you? Did you eat something sour? " Sikes said, looking up.

"Yeah, some sour words..." Selena said.

Syndrome looked up from his newest drawing. "Pfft. Telepathy..." he muttered before going back to designing a small concealable weapon that would shoot sharp objects at people. Namely Sikes. He knew that Rylan would never buy a nail gun, so he'd have to make his own.

"Yeah, don't forget mind reading," Selena said, growling.

"...Shit. Well what else am I supposed to draw? I get bored with drawing things that don't make other peoples' lives miserable."

"You'd be making Nancy's life a little... longer, I suppose." Selena said sourly.

"Possibly."

"What about that traitorous two-timing bitch?" Sikes asked.

"By killing you, I'd make her life longer."

"Sikes, lemme try to pound this through your head- SHE NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT WHERE you guys were."

Syndrome grinned.

"She never said nuffink, huh?" He snickered.

"'I' never said nuffink. But that's a different story... waaaait. How do YOU know about that one?"

Syndrome shrugged and snickered again.

_Did-? No, it's not possible. You don't have telepathy_, she thought to Rylan.

_No, I don't. I never said nuffink. Hehehe._

_You little rat._

_I'm serious. It's just funny._

_To you._

_No, it's funny because I have no idea how he knows. Search me._

_I just might._

_Go ahead. I've got nothing to hide in that department._

_But in others…_

_I really have no idea how he knows... Don't you DARE think about seeing anything else. Or you'll regret it._

_Fine, fine. I shouldn't, but I trust you on this occasion._

_Thank you._

Syndrome grinned. "It's not my fault you broadcasted your thoughts a bit loudly in my direction..."

"WHAT? HOW the HELL?!"

"I'm not telling you..."

"You don't need to."

"...Damn it."

She searched his mind...

Many locked doors were in front of her.

She didn't know which one it was in!

She counted the doors and chose the third on the right.

"Get the hell out of my mind-" he started.

"What the hell are you doing, fixing up your 'toys' that way?! GREAT!"

She groaned.

"It was a minor modification, and it only reads surface thoughts, it can't go any deeper unless you let it..." He paused.

"Like if a memory is linked to it..."

_Oh shit. BRICK WALL BRICK WALL BRICK WALL_, she thought with all her might.

"What the HELL are you doing?" he asked. "I turned it off."

"No you didn't!"

"It got too complicated... And unlike SOMEONE, I'm not one to snoop around that much..."

Selena pouted a bit.

He lifted up the right gauntlet. There was a small red light on it.

"See? Off."

"But the light's... on."

_BRICK WALL BRICK WALL BRICK WALL_

"But the red light means off... The green light means on..."

"Sure. That's what they all say."

"Obviously you've never driven either..."

"Never needed to. I've always walked, ran, biked, or swam."

"Watch." He pressed on the light and it turned green.

_BRIC- ooooh, pretty colours!_

"Wow, you're random... and easily distracted."

He pushed the light again and it turned red.

"Off."

"Random, yes. Distracted, only once in a while."

"Like when a light changes colors... That's useful to know..."

"I'm not always like that..." Selena started.

"Yeah, I just bet. Being random isn't something to be ashamed of... and neither is being easily distracted." He paused. "I mean, I'm easily distracted... Not like, 'when I press this button then OOH A SQUIRREL!' easily distracted, but more like 'and then I hook this wire to this one and hey, you know what would be a good idea? A taser glove,' easily distracted."

"Well, excuse my 'oh hai, a gr33n bu770n.'"

"I bet you love Christmas lights."

"Actually, I hate them."

"Why, because most of them don't change?"

Selena growled. "You don't need to know why."

"Well I can just find out then..."

_BRICK WALL BRICK WALL BRICK WALL_

His thumb hovered over the red light.

_BRICK WALL BRICK WALL BRICK WALL_

"You know, eventually I'll invent something that'll go past surface thoughts."

_BRICK WALL DAMMIT, BRICK WALL_

"Don't think I won't forget this. I'll remember... and I'll go back and find out why you hate Christmas lights. Maybe it's because you just hate Christmas?"

Selena looked at him. "Yes, that's it..."

"Because everyone's happy and good and there's so much wrong with the world and you wish they would all die a horrible and gruesome death?"

"Yes."

"Really." He pointed the gauntlet at her head. "Because I don't think that's true."

The light was green.

_Ooh, green li- oh shit. BRICK WALL BRICK WALL BRICK WALL_

"You're a filthy liar, girl... Once I'm in, no brick wall can save you..."

_BRICK WALL BRICK WAAALL COMEON BRICK WAAALL..._

(_Dammit...)_

_A small house in the middle of nowhere…_

_(Why now? Why does he do this now?)_

_A picture of a little girl with two adults_

_presumably a family._

_(Come on, dammit.)_

_Christmas lights wrapped around a tree..._

_Flickering softly_

_'Mummy, mummy… look what I can do!' _

_The little girl was in the living room_

_she was making the light strand move around._

_(Dammit, Sin-drone…)_

_**(Don't call me that)**__, the redheaded spectator to Selena's memories replied_

_A woman came running_

_'Selena, what the hell?!'_

_Lights dropped_

_shattered_

_the strands now in her mother's hands_

_(COME ON)_

_(GET OUT OF HERE)_

_**(So the lights made your parents realize your powers...)**_

_broken glass_

_wrapped around her_

_cuts and scrapes_

_fear so great she couldn't move _

_**(And they didn't accept them, did they?)**_

_"Mummy?!'_

_The woman was sobbing_

_(Come on, we've seen enough...)_

_"You witch!" She screamed_

_**(That's what I thought...)**_

_and she wrapped them tighter still_

_Then cold snow_

_cold, cold snow..._

_(__**And kicked you out of the house...)**_

_**(And left you to die...)**_

_**(because you were different...)**_

_(you saw enough)_

_(get out)_

_**(and you had nowhere to turn but to him...)**_

_Lights gone, cuts still there._

_Feelings of despair_

_Calmed by a man_

_with glowing green eyes..._

Syndrome pushed the button. "I suppose I've seen enough now..."

"Mummy..." Selena sobbed.

She was shaking.

The cold had surrounded her... the fear still there... she could feel the cuts in her skin.

_They left her to die because she was different... Not so different from yourself... only with the tables turned. She suffered rejection because she HAD powers… Heh... Funny how it works like that..._

"Where's daddy...?" Selena asked, still in it…

"HEY!" Syndrome barked. "I'm done. Knock it off."

_same story, different characters_

"Daddy?" She asked, looking at Sikes. She was no longer aware of her surroundings… she was delirious.

Rylan blinked. "SELENA!" he shouted.

Selena jumped.

"Wh-wha-wha-wha-?"

Sikes looked at her oddly. "What's happened to her?" He asked, not quite aware.

"Immersed in her memories," Syndrome responded.

_same song, second verse_

"Mummy? What now?" She asked, looking at Rylan. "What's the matter now?"

"SELENA! SNAP OUT OF IT!" he yelled.

Selena fell to the floor. Her chest rose and fell slowly.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Sikes asked, now interested in the scene.

"Last time I do that," Syndrome muttered. "I've got a contraption here that lets me look into people's thoughts, and hers were really complicated... and she got stuck in 'em. Good enough explanation?"

"She called me 'daddy.' She needs to be thrown out…" Sikes said, and then went back to his flashlight.

"She was delirious... it wasn't her fault."

"In any case, you're not to do that again, UNDERSTAND?" Rylan threatened.

"I suppose..."

Sikes clicked the flashlight on and off a couple of times.

"Come on, lady, wake up..." Syndrome muttered. "You gotta admit, now would be a pretty useful time for taser gloves..."

"NO."

"Fine..."

Syndrome instead used his zero-point energy function to bang her head against the floor a few times.

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Well there wasn't any water around to splash on her!"

"I SAID KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Fine... You're no fun."

Selena woke... everything was blurry. Did she have glasses? No, she didn't have contacts either...

"Ugh." She said, groaning. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Or Sikes's jemmy a few times."

"Heyyy, Sleeping Beauty wakes up. Or should it be 'Delirious Psychopath'? Your memories are interesting. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not worth it when you start calling Rylan "mummy.""

Selena blinked. She couldn't really argue- her head really hurt.

"Wait, I did what?"

Those same thoughts kept echoing in Syndrome's head.

_Not so different after all..._

_same story, different characters..._

_same song, second verse..._

"What the hell?" Selena groaned. Her head echoed with words unspoken... throughout the whole room. It was like when she first could read minds... it was impossible to hear anything. So many words, so many thoughts.

"Ughhhhhhhh… Can I go back to sleep?" Selena asked. "I can't see or think straight." _Have I had a little too much OomPahPah, maybe?_

"Go ahead," Rylan replied. "Your bed's still there from when you left... And the not being able to think straight might've been from Mr. Zero-Point Happy over here banging your head on the floor a couple times."

_Oh, thank God I wasn't drinking, then._

"Thank you." She walked as well as she could to where her bed was...

"Satisfied?" Rylan asked Syndrome.

"Very."

Selena couldn't go straight back to sleep at first. She heard so much noise...

_"Strong men tremble when they hear it..."_

_"Same song, second verse..."_

_"Satisfied?"_

So much running through her mind and the minds of others.

But she passed out soon enough.

The sleep was so… glorious. She had fine dreams... something that had never happened in her memory.

Dreams of a real family, though her parents were Sikes and Nancy... they weren't themselves- or, Sikes wasn't himself.

She didn't notice, though. She was dreaming.


	5. Chapter 5

Selena woke while it was sill dark.. Looking around, she saw her old room and suddenly, the events of the night prior raced through her mind. She stormed out of her room to find Syndrome sitting in his seat, wide awake.

"What the hell?"

"Huh?" Syndrome replied, looking up from his drawings. "What? Why are you here? Whassa matter?"

"Why the hell are you still up?" She asked, though it was not why she came out.

"I'm not tired. I figured I could put a much better use to my time than just lying in bed."

"Well, yes, but... every HUMAN has to sleep sometime.."

"Eventually... maybe in a couple hours. But not now, it's only..." He trailed off. "What time is it?"

"No idea. Never stole an alarm clock for this place. Try the computer."

"I had it on earlier. So..." He moved the mouse around and the black screen lit up. "It's 4:22."

"Sheesh, I could go back to sleep..." Selena trailed off, and then she realised who she was talking to. "Wait a minute, you son of a-"

"What?" he asked innocently... at least, as innocently as possible for him. Sleep deprivation does things to your mind.

"Never, EVER do what you did to me again last night." Selena thought for a moment. "I mean, never, EVER go through locked doors and brick walls in a person's mind."

"Ohh... Well, after what happened, I'm not planning on it. At least not on you. You totally flipped out. But..." He trailed off.

"You're lucky I don't STRANGLE you right now." She growled, pulling her gloves out of her pockets and putting them on.

"Listen, I'm sorry, alright? You don't know how difficult that is to say for me, especially to a Super of all people," he spat. "I didn't realize..."

"You SHOULD have just left it when I agreed with you, MORON!" Selena shouted- as quietly as a shout could go. She needed to fix the window before she could shout at 4:30 in the morning.

"I'm a genius... I have to know these kinds of things. If all I know are lies, I can't call myself a genius, now can I? Plus my curiosity got the best of me."

"Curiousity killed the cat..." Selena growled.

"But I'm not a cat, now am I?" he said, staring into his coffee. "I'm Syndrome."

She turned around and went toward the window. "Are you?" Selena asked seriously, looking behind her.

"What?"

With that, she pulled the oh-so-great rope and flew down to the ground. She had to find something to stop up that window before sunrise.

"I don't get it..." he said as she left. "Why wouldn't I be Syndrome? Unless she's implying something..."

Running around the back alleys as fast as she could, she colleced bits and pieces of wood, thrown out wood-glue bottles, and bricks. She used an old rubbish bag to carry it around- it would have been murder to do so without telekinesis.

Soon, she had gotten the materials she needed and she sent the bag to the old base.

_Look out, heavy bag coming through,_ she thought to anyone awake in the base.

If anyone else had woken up, they might not notice it until it was too late.

If they were still sleeping, they would have it occur in their dreams and dismiss it just as quickly as it came.

Selena ran as fast as she could, but her black coat fell off behind her. "Dammit," she swore quietly. It caught up to her as she arrived at the piled up boxes and dumpsters.

As she peeked through the window, she whispered "Plummy and slam!" just for the hell of it. She had always wanted to do that.

She jumped through the windowsill.

Syndrome looked up again. "Welcome back. Now what?"

"Now... you rebuild the blocking for the window. I have no idea how."

"Well, seeing as how splinters would be annoying at this point..." He turned on the zero-point energy and began repairing the window.

---

"There. Happy now?"

"As far as the window goes, yes." Selena said.

"Truthfully, I'm surprised no one's woken up yet."

"Why?" He stared at her a bit.

"Don't the rest of them usually sleep during the day? I know I do, I'm never seen in daylight..."

"I dunno, maybe it was kind of tiring yesterday..."

"Well, I guess. I might be going back to sleep myself.. or else planning."

"I'm not tired, though, I'm wide awake. I have been since you fell asleep. Since everyone else fell asleep, really. I've got too many ideas going WAY too fast through my head to go to sleep." He seemed more than a little jumpy.

"You know, I really- What's that mug over there?" Selena asked, once again distracted.

"That's my coffee. Why?"

Selena smacked her forehead. "Well, there's my answer... You're hyped up on coffee!"

"Whaddaya mean? Of course. Coffee does that."

"Why would you drink coffee? It's disgusting!" Selena said, staring.

"No it's not! You just have to know how to make it right. It's really good."

"So, you like the taste...?"

"Yeah, pretty much. What's your point?"

"The sleep deprivation is just a fun extra side effect, then?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"You seriously need to try Decaf."

"What is this 'decaf' you speak of?"

Selena blinked. A genius who had never heard of decaf coffee?

"What? What's 'decaf'? I NEED TO KNOW!"

"It's coffee... without the restlessness!"

"But I kinda like that part... sometimes... okay, not really... But... HOW THE HECK DO THEY DO THAT?! How can you take the caffeine out of coffee? It's impossible! Coffee is practically pure caffeine! You'd just have water without it! You hear me? WATER!! And those beans they use or whatever."

Selena thought about it for a minute. "You know, I've never thought about it- maybe because I don't drink coffee- but try asking someone who knows."

"I think I will. It's going to become a personal quest to find out how you can have coffee without caffeine. Because it doesn't make any sense. Kind of like physics. But that's another story."

There was the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Rylan appeared at the top. "What are you two doing?" he said sleepily.

"Fixed the window," Selena said. "I woke up earlier and really wanted to scream at Sin-drone, so I ran out and got bits and pieces to fix it."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Syndrome yelled, not taking into account that Sikes was still sleeping.

"Shush!" Selena said, rather loudly as well. "We've got a to-be murderer still sleeping- somewhere…?"

"Then stop calling me that," he growled dangerously.

Rylan rolled his eyes. "Go on, Selena."

"Now there's no chance of being spotted during the daytime and hopefully it's at least a little soundproof."

"You have to admit, he's good for something, eh?" Rylan asked. Syndrome glared.

"Yeah... I had no idea how to put that back together again."

"So then what?"

"Well, he had no idea what decaf coffee was- hey, do you know how they get rid of the caffeine?"

"I can't say as I do. I never particularly liked coffee."

"Well, that's too bad..."

"Damn it," Syndrome muttered. "Sikes probably hasn't even heard of coffee..."

"I'm pretty sure the coffee bean was a part of the Exchange...?" Selena asked. "Oh, it's been too long since I learned about Columbus." She said, groaning. "It wouldn't be like coffee today, though, even if there was once upon a time."

"Never mind..." Syndrome whispered. His voice was starting to get a bit hoarse... then again, it tended to do that when you spent all night talking to yourself. Or monolouging, in Syndrome's case.

"Dammit, Sin-drone, you got me off subject again!" Selena realised.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"I hold all rights in this case, Droney-buddy. You're the one who made me lose all sense of where and when I was last nigh- YESTERDAY!" She shouted.

"I SAID I WAS FUCKING SORRY!"

"I keep feeling cuts in my SKIN now! I LOCKED THAT AWAY FOR A REASON!"

Syndrome fell silent.

"I didn't HAVE to remember about my damned mother! But YOU, YOU FOOL-"

"Who the hell is shouting bloody murder up here?!" Sikes was awake.

"Put me back," Syndrome said bitterly.

"-What?" Selena asked.

"I said, who the hell is shouting bloody murder up here?!" Sikes repeated himself.

"You heard me. Put me back. I'd rather deal with those damned Incredibles any day than have to spend any more time here."

Selena ignored Sikes.

"Fine... I never thought we needed you anyway." Selena said. She summoned her paper and began to read backwards when-

"STOP!" Rylan shouted. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!"

Selena went dead silent.

"You." He pointed to Selena. "You need to realize that he didn't mean to hurt you. And you," he continued, pointing to Syndrome, "you need to just shut the hell up for once. We need you, but you don't have to rub it in. No matter what you may think, Selena, we DO need him for one of my... comrades... later."

"Comrades? Who the hell-?"

"Is ANYONE GOING TO ANSWER ME?!" Sikes barked.

"SHUT UP, SIKES, I'VE GOT IT UNDER CONTROL," Rylan commanded.

Sikes was silenced.

"Her name is Cyrus, and she will be joining us eventually. And she is a devout Syndrome fangirl."

"Cyrus, huh..?" _You weren't supposed to say that!_

"She's a WHAT?" Syndrome asked.

"You didn't hear that," Rylan ordered.

Syndrome's expression went blank for a moment. "Wait... what's happening?"

_There. Better now?_

_Yes._

_She is a huge fangirl of Syndrome's. And we need to keep him around because of that._

_Whatever._

_Plus, we need him more than you realize..._

_Speaking of needing people... I have a job that I need Sikes for._

_And I don't see why you two are bickering... you're more alike than you know. Well, he knows now. But you haven't listened._

_Sure. Anyway... I need to get Basta from Inkheart. The only problem is, I've only seen this book once in my life... And that was when I was raiding my mother's house several years ago._

_We can get it then. No big deal._

_It's not going to be easy for me to do this... not with these shitty memories popping up everywhere because of that asshole._

_It wasn't entirely his fault, you know..._

_What, it was mine, because my defenses fell because of a green light?! I know, I'm trying to keep myself from distractions!_

_You just don't get it, do you? You know, you may not have the guts to look, but you really hurt him. He just doesn't want to show it._

The silence in the room was astounding. Selena didn't really notice, she heard voices in her head, after all, but it was really quite awkward.

_How the hell did I hurt him? HE'S the one who pointed that THING at me._

_He said he was sorry. That's all he can do. What's done is done, and you didn't forgive him. And you keep calling him names. And that makes him feel like no one wants him here. But you really don't, do you? As useful as he could be, you're stuck thinking about yourself and your own petty reasons for not wanting him here._

_So, what IS his name, then?_

_Syndrome._

_Like, S-I-N-D-R-O-N-E? Or what? Because that' s what I'm saying._

_No, like a disease, S-y-n-d-r-o-m-e._

_Ohhhhhhhhhh! _

_It's an "M" not an "N" and that's what's really pissing him off._

"Oops."

Syndrome was sitting with his back to them. "Nice to have you back in the world of NORMAL PEOPLE," he spat maliciously.

_He's just frustrated._

"...fuggin Supers..."

"Look, Syndrome- That's how you say it, then?"

The clicking of the flashlight was the only sound around...

"Yes. Thank you."

"Didn't know, sorry." Selena said bluntly.

"You could've asked, you know..."

"Yeah, well, you've pissed me off, and no one asks about a name when they're pissed off. That just doesn't make any sense. For example...'You little son of a bitch- wait, what was your name again?' I mean, not natural. Come on."

Syndrome snickered slightly inwardly.

_Hah, got a laugh out of him. Is that good enough?_

_NO._

_Damn..._

"Anyway. Um. Sorry... for doing whatever I did to you to piss you off."

_THIS IS SO UNVILLAIN-LIKE!_

"No you're not. You didn't piss me off. I pissed you off and you wouldn't forgive me."

_DO YOU WANT THIS TO WORK OR NOT?_

_I WAS TRYING!_

_Even villains have to apologize when they're working together and they fight..._

"Okay then... I'm sorry for not forgiving you…?" Selena was a tiny bit confused.

"Thank you. Now hopefully we can go on with our lives now..."

_(Not that I've forgiven him, but this most certainly made me sorry...)_

Syndrome nodded to Rylan and Selena and left the room, heading toward his room.

"I'm summoning a change… this dress is a pain in the ass... after all, being mistaken for Nancy on the night of her murder isn't a good thing." She waved her hand in the air... and waited.

"I would suppose not," Rylan replied.

A minute later, a pile of still-folded clothes zoomed up the stairs. She hadn't realised how close her house was to here... it wouldn't have come if it were more than two blocks away. Selena caught them and walked toward her room. She came back out in her changed attire- a more Sikes-ish outfit. Her coat still on, she also had a long-sleeved black shirt and black pants. No red, after all, she was planning on breaking into her mother's house.

Selena walked over to Sikes with his flashlight. "Hey, do you think I could borrow that for a minute?" She asked.

"No." Sikes said, flashing it in her face.

"Then I'll have to steal it from you." And so she did. She took it and then she started swinging it around.

"Strong men TREMBLE when they hear it!

They've got cause enough to fear it!

It's much BLACKER than they smear it-

Nobody mentions MY NAME!" She sang. She then gave it back. "Sorry, just had to do it."

Rylan looked at Selena as though she had just turned into a marshmallow.

"What was THAT all about?"

"I snuck into a musical once and… well..." Selena giggled a bit. "I just had to sing that song. It fits so well now!"

"Alrighty then."

Sikes glared at Selena for a moment. "I've been thinking up that song for a long time, and now someone tells me that they have already thought of it?!"

"Now, now," Selena said. "You're in the future, remember?"

"Exactly," Rylan reinforced.

"You thought of it, then went back and taught it to people, and now it's in a musical that has you in it."

"Why the hell did I teach it to people...?" Sikes asked.

_Um, just thought I'd let you know... He's nearing the end of his life and the first thing he thinks of when he dies is now going to be "I NEVER TAUGHT THEM MY NAME!"_

"Well... actually you sang it just before... a... significant event... in your life, and people remembered it from then."

_Now he just has to remember to sing the song before he dies and he'll be okay..._

"Sikes, I need you to come here a minute..." Selena said, avoiding the whole death scene in her mind. "I need you to help me with something. We've got one last recruit from a book before we start the main event, and that book is more than likely heavily guarded." Selena said, trying to make the job a bit more interesting for the soon-to-be murderer.

"Tonight, at midnight, we've got to go... it's our only chance. If we wait any longer.. It may not work," She continued. "So, I need you to get ready for anything that may come in our way- even a little child perhaps foiling our plans."

"Are you referring to that-"

"Yes. But here's the thing. He's not going to be 'helping' you this time, so it's not as likely to fail." Selena cut him off.

She thought about what she just said for a moment, and then said... "Well, I'm just saying you need to be more prepared than you were when you took Oliver with you."

_Since we're going at midnight, do you suppose Syndrome should be okay by then?_

_Should be._

Sikes stood up and took his crowbar out of his coat. "I'm sure as hell going to be ready…" He waved it threateningly.

_So do you suppose we should let him make the tazer gloves? He's practically defenseless in close-range._

_Um.. Well. We have to be prepared at any point in time to be tazed. _

_I could just issue a command that he is NEVER to use them against us..._

"Good. Get yourself mentally prepared, and I shall get myself ready too." Selena said to Sikes.

_I hope that works then._

_Oh, it will. It will._


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This chapter is really short, dunno why.

_

* * *

It's this way._

The bitter winds battered the four villains as they continued to run, turning at random intervals as Selena did.

_We're going to be reaching streetlights soon. We have to be a bit more... normal. That means that someone has to stop playing with his gloves and catch up... or we split._

_Hey, I was just making sure they work!_ the ginger protested.

Selena stopped.

_How the hell is this going to work?_ Sikes thought angrily. _Those big lights will give us away right away!_

Selena broadcasted these thoughts throughout the troop of thieves.

_Obviously, that's why we disable the lights from a distance._

_Well, then, Mr. Smart Guy, get on with it! You're the only one who can!_

_With pleasure._

A small shot of zero-point energy to the bulb burst the filament, therefore making it useless, but didn't burst the bulb. Didn't need to avoid glass shards too.

_One down..._

_Too many to go_, Sikes thought bitterly. He was regretting the flashlight.

_Well, let's just get on with it then_, the redhead replied, and proceeded to disable two more streetlights from his current position.

_That should take care of that for a while._

_Very good... _Selena thought. _I'm pretty sure we're in Lilyport now... She lives near the edge. Of course, YOU would remember that, wouldn't you, Syndrome?_

Syndrome made a face but didn't reply.

_Sorry. Anyway... let's get moving._

The group moved briskly, not running, but not walking either. Soon they reached more light. Syndrome made quick work of the streetlamps, and they continued, sometimes turning into alleys.

Selena was the first to hear the voices.

_Oh, shit._

_What? Rylan asked._

_Don't you hear that?_

"Come on, quiet down, I'd like to get to bed!" one of the voices said.

_I don't hear anything..._

_Well, in any case, we've got to be absolutely silent._

_T__ry to stifle your breathing.._. Selena thought, looking around.

_That means you, big guy_. Sikes thought mindlessly. Selena, without thinking, repeated this.

_Shut up_, the taller villain replied. _I'm doing the best that I can._

_Maybe you'll learn from this, then. I've done this most of my life, _Sikes boasted.

_Would you two shut up!?_ Selena almost spoke as they walked quietly through the alley.

The voices soon died down. There was no one around.

They were soon at the old house of Selena's mother.

_Wow, she's really let it go to pieces,_ Selena noted.

_Heh, really._

_It's worse than where I live. And that's saying something._

_Does she even still live here?_

_Last time I raided her house was before Rylan was put in jail. I dunno._

_And that was how long ago?_

_Three years. Give or take a few months._

_Uh-huh. Well. We'll just have to bring that up when we're back in Ravensburg. It's nice to know when one of your employers has been incarcerated._

_SHUT UP._

_I've got loads to tell you and Sikes about him…_

_It can wait. We have a job ahead of us._

_What happens if she doesn't live here anymore?_ Selena asked.

_Then we find her_, Rylan replied.

_...That could be hard._

_Oh well. Let's look._

The rickety old house had been left to the rats, or so it seemed. Selena knew her mother was a slob, but this was a little ridiculous. She saw an old Christmas-tree up… she had seen that last time, too. Had her mother kept it up because she had no one to help her take it down?

_If she doesn't live here anymore, she's just up and left,_ Sikes stated.

_That's the way it seems.. But I almost ran into her last time...?_

_Well, the only way we'll know is if we go in and find out. Rylan can take her down if he needs to..._

_Alright. Let's go._ Sikes thought excitedly.

They walked into the house. There were pests- ants and spiders, mostly- but that was normal as of last time.

No rats whatsoever.

_Hey, did you notice- the door was OPEN?_ Sikes asked. _That's NOT normal._

_I have no experience in this, and I'd have to say the same..._

_Yeah, I didn't even have to jimmy the lock… _Selena thought.

_This is getting strange..._

Selena looked around, and then tripped over a pile of shoes. "OH Sh-" she whispered.

I'm getting a really bad feeling about this...

"Who's there?!" A voice shouted from a back room.

Syndrome paled.

_ GET OUTSIDE NOW,_ Selena thought desperately. _I have ONE idea, and you need to be away, all of you!_ Sikes would have grumbled. Maybe even more than that.

Rylan, who had been bringing up the back, took a few steps backward. Syndrome gulped a bit and followed suit. Sikes turned tail and ran.

_Mummy?_ she projected, trying to sound like a child.

_...What?_ Selena could tell that this was a thought, because she also heard, "WHO'S THERE?" shouted again.

_Mummy..._ she thought again. She moved around the broken lights as she saw her mother was coming out into the dark room.

_Selena...? But you're dead...? _her mother thought as she said, "She's dead. Stop messing with me."

_That woman assumes things too hastily,_ Syndrome commented.

_Mummy, it hurts... _

Selena felt sick to her stomach. It was mentally taxing to do this... reliving a nightmare.

_Mummy...! MUMMY!!_

"Oh no..." her mother said. "No, don't hurt me! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

_MUMMY! WHAT DID I DO?! Why are you doing this?! _Selena continued, trying her hardest not to lose grip.

_Where's Daddy? _

_Right here…_ Sikes grumbled inwardly. Selena ignored this comment too.

_Daddy wants a book, Mummy..._ She strayed from her memory.

"What?" Selena's mother asked, confused.

_He's been wanting that book. That one. That Ink-book. He wants the Ink-book, Mummy. Can you put it here? _

Selena put the broken lights into a circle on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Selena... Really, I am..."

_I know, Mummy, I know… Daddy doesn't, though... Give me the Ink-book... so he can understand. _

Selena's mother walked back, away from the room. "I'm getting it..." she said, obviously trembling.

_Where did I put it...? Ah. There. _

_Nice going, Selena. You really scared the hell out of her!_ Syndrome had meant that sincerely.

_...Selena…_ "I've got the book, Selena," her mother said, putting it in the middle of the circle of lights. "I hoped you'd come back alive... but that man told me otherwise... I'm sorry, Selena..." she said. "He said that I wasn't going to be charged... Kind man, that one… Too kind for your own good..."

_It's okay, Mummy._ Selena lifted the book, and it flew out the window- landing in Sikes's arms. Luckily, the door was still wide open, so Selena could leave without being noticed.

She left one final message to her mother...

_Goodnight, Mummy._

Selena ducked underneath the window and motioned for the rest to follow her and leave as soon as possible.

_You guys both kept me here and almost made me lose grip at the same time. I'm sorry for ignoring you, but that was bloomin' hard,_ she thought when they were away from the house.

_Bloomin'? BLOOMIN'?_ Sikes sniggered a bit. _When did you not curse?!_

_When I was a kid, you dolt._ Selena countered.

_You still are a kid, if you haven't noticed..._

_Shut the hell up, Syndrome. I've done more as 'kid' than you have as an adult. Besides build toys._

_SHUT UP. THEY AREN'T TOYS. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, I'M RICH, BITCH. _

_You inherited those 'riches.' I worked for them. Hell, I've worked for my survival._

_I didn't inherit a penny. I had to invent to get where I am. You know, a lot of people are willing to pay for respect… And the easiest way to get respect is by administering power. Therefore, WMDs are in high demand..._

_Only because they can't use their muscle, the weaklings,_ Sikes thought.

_SHUT THE HELL UP. And by the way, you can't kill thousands of people simultaneously with muscle alone._

What CAN you use? Sikes thought out of curiosity.

_Ah, let's see, say a bomb…_

_Syndrome... he's from nineteenth century London... He doesn't know what a bomb is._

_Well, an explanation is in order, then. A "bomb" is a thing that can come in many shapes or sizes that explodes. Do you know what explode means?_

_No need to give him ideas, he's already got enough… _

_I was just explaining..._

_Yes, he doesn't really need to know! The flashlight is going to be credited to HIM, for God's sakes!_

_Not if we don't give it to him. And let him take it back with him. Or if we just take out the batteries before he leaves. _

_Aw, come on, that thing's dangerous! Sikes thought miserably. He wanted his flashlight._

_Selena... you REALLY shouldn't let him take it back with him._

_I wasn't PLANNING on it. But if he talks about it…_

The next thought he sent to Selena was private. _I can make him forget about it before he leaves... plus he's going to die soon anyway, right?_

_Don't remind me…_

_Sorry._

_I never knew my father. He's a villainous father, yes, but a father all the same... kinda._

_Well we can't keep him here forever..._

_Yes. I know. "Never get attached." I know. Too late, Rylan._

_It'll be just as hard on Cyrus when we have to send Syndrome back..._

_Who is this Cyrus, anyway? Selena continued to walk._

_An old friend, about your age... She specializes in deception._

_See, I don't remember ever meeting her... She was never there at the same time as you._

_Ah._

_She rarely came over, and only for a few minutes at a time. She was actually in prison at the same time as me for a year._

_I see. Not very great, then... _Selena snorted a bit. _Shit._

_What do you mean by that?_

_Nothing, never mind._

_If you're implying that it's because she got caught... that wasn't it._

They were already back at the first set of streetlamps.

_She was framed for a murder she didn't commit when she got on a mob's bad side._

_Sucks to be her._

_Granted, she had murdered before, but only a couple times..._

_Oh... _Selena went quiet. She hadn't murdered, so she wasn't really on their level, was she?

The walk/run back was silent for the rest of the way.

Or, as silent as it could be when you could hear thoughts.

_Well, here we are. I'm going to split, Sikes still has the book. I've got to get something from my house._

_Alright then. _


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter is even shorter than the last one. That's weird. Trust me, they get longer.

* * *

Selena walked away from the group, finding the dumpster that marked where the quick-route to her house was. She was a little out of breath, and really tired. Pretending to be a ghost really took a lot out of her, apparently. She would keep that in mind.

Continuing down the straight path to her dump, she felt quite ridiculous. She couldn't even steal a damned book, let alone pull off murder?

She had the anger, yes, and the power, but for some reason it didn't occur to her to kill her mother at all.

She arrived at her house and found the old, tattered Harry Potter book she had loved as a kid. If it made that Syndrome shut up for once in his life, she would let him have the thing and do whatever he wished with it. But, before she could leave the house, she was taken down by her worst enemy, sleep.

---

"So. Now that we can talk again, like-dare I say-NORMAL PEOPLE, what are we doing, oh great and fearless leader?" Syndrome asked, voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Syndrome... I'm not the leader here."

"Wait, what?"

"Selena thought of it. She brought Sikes here, and she brought you here. And she could probably kill any of us. So. I'm guessing it's best we just let her do her thing and go with it."

"THAT FREAK GIRL CAN NOT BE THE LEADER-"

Syndrome was cut off by Rylan's eyes glowing a fierce green.

"S-sorry..."

Sikes was looking at the book he still had. "Didn't know our witch-girl was starting a library," he muttered. "All of this for a stupid book? And we didn't even have any problem! Nothing went wrong at all... except the girl didn't even try to steal anything worthwhile. Useless, just like Nancy," He added under his breath.

"Sikes..." Rylan sighed. "It's for part of the plan later on. We're getting another ally with it..."

"ANOTHER ONE?!" Syndrome shouted. "Hopefully he isn't anything like that one over there, THEN we'll be in trouble, we'll have more brawn than brains..."

"Shut UP, Syndrome," Rylan snapped.

He rolled his eyes. He didn't quite know what Selena was thinking-even with just the two, things were not going well. Syndrome treated Sikes like some kind of dumbed-down, shorter, evil Mr. Incredible; and Sikes treated Syndrome like... well... a nuisance that should be permanently silenced.

What could she have been THINKING, bringing someone else into the mix?

Granted, they'd have Cyrus's aid, but still…

Selena woke to a loud SNAP. She jumped off the bed, summoned a table leg, and shouted, "WHO'S THERE?!" There was no reply, just a little crackle of leaves. "DAMMIT, I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!! WHO'S THERE?!"

She was about ready to go outside when-

"Gah, I really have got to start working on being more discreet since I got out of jail. That kind of thing kind of makes you lose your edge," someone whispered.

Selena opened the door quickly, still holding onto her table-leg-club with both hands.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing standing outside my house? I give you three seconds to answer, starting NOW."

"Hey, put the table leg down, my name's Cyrus, and I was just wandering around."

Selena almost dropped her club in shock. She caught it before it reached the ground, and pulled it back up to batting-position.

"You- You- YOU?" She snorted.

She would have started laughing had she not known that Cyrus was a murderer. Selena knew very well that murderers could be provoked by laughter.

"Yes, me- me- ME. Now if you don't mind, I'm looking for an old friend's place... Could you tell me which way..." The somewhat short girl paused and pulled out a piece of paper. "...uh, 1020 Ochre Way is?"

"You're not joking," Selena said more to herself than anyone else. She summoned her Harry Potter book and said, "I'm going there. If you can keep up, you can get there too."

She then made a mad dash, twisting through the alleyways as always.

She looked behind her.

Some ways behind her, the other girl was panting and trying to catch up.

"Hold up," she shouted. "I'm not that fast. I've been sitting around too long."

"So I've heard," Selena thought to her. She slowed down a tad- after all, Cyrus had been in jail, but that girl still needed to be on top of her game.

"Hey, whassat bit with... ya know... not moving your lips, but still talking?" Cyrus said between gasps. "Hey, waita minute, you're Selena, aintcha? Rylan was awfully proud of you, ya know... before you went and turned him in and all. Heard all about it in the slammer. Ya hear all kinds of things there."

Selena paled, but kept moving. "Yeah, like what?" She asked. "Oh, and you can just think your answer. Keeps things a bit more quiet for everyone else."

_Kay, but this might take some getting used to... although it does let me "talk," so to speak, without getting even more out of breath. It's more efficient. Anyway. You hear all kinds of things in the slammer. _

_You said that already._

_Like your rise above Rylan while he was incarcerated. And yeah, I know, I repeat myself a lot. Get used to it._

_You said he was proud? My ass, he was! He obviously didn't tell you the full story. Did he tell you about how HE threw ME out? I was 'a kid running around the operation,' according to him. Useless. He never once let me kill, either. Always saved it for himself. However, if someone needed to be harmed, then it was all my job. I don't think he could restrain himself, the old fool._

_Now listen. Rylan may be a fool, but he ain't old. He's only late twenties, early thirties... something like that. And he's kinda like that. See. I got around that bit._

_Don't know how you could without being sent off._

_I just stick an illusion in front of him and he thinks I left. And then for some reason when I show up the next morning, he doesn't even care. And then I stopped coming around so often. Just stopped to chat for old times' sake. Course, I was on my own a lot faster than you were._

Selena glowered.

_Maybe six, seven, eight, hell, I can't remember. You got lucky. You didn't have most of your memories blanked before you left. I remember the basics of what I need to. And nothing else before he threw me out._

_He blanked your memories?!_

_Yup._

Selena's thoughts went straight to Sikes.

_We need to get there NOW._

_It kind of sucks._

Selena stopped. They WERE there now.

_Hey, whaddaya know, just like old times._

_Hey, Rylan, Sikes, Syndrome! Anyone!_

_Hey, wait, did you say SYNDROME?!_

_Oh shit,_ Selena thought to nowhere in particular.

_Let me and Cyrus in, eh!? Or I'll pick your lock! And then it won't be any good!_

_Hey, no need to get so touchy! Give me a minute, will you? And what? You brought Cyrus? And none too soon..._

_She was hiding outside my house!_

_Yeah, she does that..._

The door swung open to allow passage for the pair.

_YOU SAID SYNDROME!_ Cyrus thought like the somewhat-hyperactive fangirl she was.

As soon as they were both in, Selena shut it. She shouted upstairs, "She found out about Syndrome, sorry!"

"SHE WHAT?!" Rylan yelled. "WHY DID YOU TELL HER? NOW SHE'LL BE FANGIRLING ALL NIGHT!"

"I didn't! She somehow overheard me yelling at you three to get your asses down here! Well, psychically yelling."

"YOU WERE YELLING!" Cyrus yelled. "I CAN HEAR PEOPLE WHEN THEY'RE YELLING!"

"Only the people I'm yelling AT should be able to hear me, Cyrus! How the hell did you do it!?"

Selena walked up the stairs. "I really need to rest up," she growled. She walked over to her bed and said, "Hopefully, that was all just a fault of my extreme fatigue."

"SORRY!" Cyrus shouted after her.

Sikes looked at the retreating figure. "Since when does someone like that say "fatigue?" Creepy witch."

"What's this I hear about fangirling?"

"Ohh, no..." Rylan started. "This... is going... to be very, VERY bad..."

Selena rolled over. She could still hear them. Thinking to Rylan, she said

_I didn't fangirl very long after I brought Sikes here... I don't ever remember squealing. Maybe she'll be good enough to let me sleep?_

And then there was a high-pitched squeal.

_Dammit._

And then there was silence.

_She fainted. Looks like we'll all sleep well, at least tonight..._

Selena heard a single thought besides Rylan's_. That damn girl is worse than the witch...She faints as much as Nance does, too._

_I hope so, because I'm not the only one who's grumpy._

_You don't know the half of it. Syndrome's probably more irritable than you'd ever guess... A fangirl would probably just add to the problems._

_Why, because he's finally liked by someone in this group of 'randoms,' as I've heard?_

_Well. Actually, I think everyone here's much too tired to give her the attention she needs as a fangirl. Especially him. When we get up again... then she's HIS problem._

_Why the hell are you guys tired, besides the run home? I did all the work at mum's…_

_I got rid of her. And she only came over a couple times to talk... Well. I think our sleeping cycles are thrown off... or something... I dunno. I'm tired as hell, though... although that might be from all the ground control I had to do while you were gone. _

_Ground control? What happened here?_

_Well. It's Syndrome and Sikes with only me to break up arguments... What do YOU think happened? Syndrome started complaining as usual... and then they started fighting... plus my powers are much more exhausting than you would expect._

_Of course... I suppose._

Selena's mind fluttered to Sikes for a moment, and then came back to reality.

_Look, I'm dead tired. Let's all get some shut-eye._

_Sounds like a good idea to me._


	8. Chapter 8

"ARRIGHT, WHO WANTS PANCAKES!" came a yell from downstairs. "BY THE WAY, WE NEED SOME KIND OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, THIS MAKES MY THROAT HURT."

Rylan blinked a moment. He didn't remember having an oven...?

"Ugh, what the hell-?" Selena groaned from her bed.

Sikes awoke with a jolt. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL?!"

"IT'S PANCAKES!" Cyrus replied loudly.

Of course, the last one up (or, more accurately, the only one NOT up) was Syndrome, who slept the farthest away from the room and was also recovering from a "coffee crash." And he was a heavy sleeper.

If any of those variables hadn't been in play, he probably would've woken up...

Selena threw her pillow over her head.

_Let me sleep, you deadbolt!_ she thought to Cyrus.

Her head was buzzing with all sorts of different thoughts. "Ugh..."

_Imma push a button nao..._

Selena started to laugh.

The loudest of all thoughts- the closest- would have been Syndrome's.

She got up and walked over to his room. She raised herself on a carpet and thought...

_**OY, SLEEPY HEAD! YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S MAKING PANCAKES!**_

Syndrome didn't even stir.

_Not now, fool. Imma chargin mah lazer!_

Selena about fell off her now-magic carpet with laughter.

_meh... Stop it, Incredible, you has no right to laugh! I has a lazer..._

_**I'm not Mr. Incredible, dumbass. Now wake up. NOW.**_

_Ahaha, teh super can has identity crisis? I win... I be full of epic win..._

Selena growled, and then she realised she had lost her concentration and was falling. She landed on her feet softly- wasn't quite so soft for Syndrome, though.

"Ow."

The ginger blinked, now awake. "Get offa me."

"Well, it's about damn time you woke up. Didn't you hear me? Your girlfriend's made breakfast and woke everyone except you up." Selena growled, jumping off.

"No, as a matter of fact I did NOT hear you, I was having a rather pleasant dream where I was about to annihilate Mr. Incredible when you so rudely interrupted. And he even had an identity crisis this time, too..."

"I could tell." Selena snickered. "'Ahaha, teh super can has identity crisis? I win... I be full of epic win...' You are so full of yourself, even in your dreams."

"What the...? How did you...? Oh, damn it! Stupid powers..." Syndrome left, grumbling angrily to himself.

"CYRUS, THERE WAS NOT A FIRE DOWN HERE BEFORE YOU CAME!" Rylan shouted.

"WELL, THERE SHOULD'VE BEEN!" Cyrus shouted back. "YOU HAVE NO OVEN!"

"MY POINT EXACTLY!"

"Where's the witch?" Sikes shouted, the fire raging in his face. "She could stop this!!"

"IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE! SERIOUSLY, CYRUS, IF WE HAD WANTED BREAKFAST, WE COULD'VE JUST GONE TO BURGER KING."

"The WITCH's name is Selena. Get it RIGHT, Sikes," Selena thought angrily as she stormed down the stairs. Her black coat was flying viciously- she was moving very fast and you could tell by the way she walked she was pissed. She summoned a bucket of water from outside and opened a boarded window so that it could come through. She dumped the water on the fire.

"There. Problem solved."

"I think we need an oven..."

"Cyrus, if you're going to be doing any cooking, it will be OUTSIDE from now on, understand?"

"Yessir," she replied quietly.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to bed," Selena growled.

"WHAT?" shouted Syndrome from the top of the stairs. "YOU WOKE ME UP JUST TO GO BACK TO BED?"

_I'm not hungry enough, I'm just dead tired__!_ she thought, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Syndrome?"

"Oh, no... Not this again."

"SYNDROME~" Cyrus shouted, and bolted up the stairs toward the person of her affection with fangirlish speed.

"Damn. If I was as open about my obsessions as she was, I'd have been dead before I could even bring Syndrome here." Selena mumbled.

Syndrome was promptly knocked to the ground by his fangirl.

"HELP ME!" Syndrome pleaded.

Rylan shrugged. "She's your fangirl."

"That's your funeral," Sikes said. Selena looked at him like he was a ghost or something.

Syndrome barely managed an escape before Cyrus followed in hot pursuit. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he shouted.

"BUT YOU'RE AWESOOOOOOOOOOME~" came Cyrus's reply.

Rylan glanced at Selena. "Really, she's not always like this... She'll get over it soon. I think."

"I hope so. She could be useful if she weren't... well. You know." Selena rolled her eyes. "Makes my reactions look ten times better, though, dunnit?"

"But she's allowed a little leeway. With abilities like hers..."

"Yeah, she's a real doozy," Selena mumbled.

She hated being outclassed.

"Well, that... and...well. I'm sure she told you about... that part... of her dismissal..."

"What?"

"Well. Selena. We're talking about Cyrus here. She never shuts up. Surely she must've mentioned...?"

"What, she can make illusions? Yeah, she told me that," Selena said. "Nothing but a 'magician's' kind of magic trick."

"Not that. After that. I just want you to know that I don't do that to everyone who leaves my service. She was... a unique case."

_Liar_, whispered a voice in his head.

"That's what you would have done to me, eh?" Selena glared at him. "Wiped my memory blank? Left me in the DAMNED COLD OF WINTER?" A nearby clock's glass shattered. She had that effect when she was pissed.

"No. I would've wiped your memory blank and started over. Same person, same abilities, no memory. I wouldn't dispose of you... you were much too valuable."

"Well, dammit, Rylan! I don't believe you!" A crowbar came flying towards Selena, she grabbed it.

"Hey, what're you doing with MY JEMMY?" Sikes shouted.

"Shut up and lemme kill him," She said, crowbar at the ready.

"Listen, Selena, search me, I wouldn't have disposed of you... I would've started over, granted, but not actually let you go in the middle of winter..."

"How do I know?! You're ten times more demented than my dear mother at LEAST!" She had it at his throat. Just one small push...

"Listen... you have the ability, I'm giving you the right, search me. Go on. You know you want to."

She didn't want to. She wanted to kill the raving son of a bitch, with all but a small portion of her heart. She raised her other hand.

"How do I know you haven't done it already?"

Rylan didn't answer. "You need me, admit it. As much as you hate to believe it, you need me. Without me, this whole operation would fall apart. Syndrome and Sikes would fight, and Cyrus would get in the middle... then what? You're left with an uncontrollable Sikes, a temperamental Syndrome, or an extremely unhappy Cyrus. What have you got then?"

He paused to let it sink in.

"You NEED ME."

"Well, are you going to kill him, or are you just going to sit there with my jemmy?" Sikes asked.

Selena lowered her hands. She gave the crowbar back, angrily.

_Dammit, Rylan. If you hadn't brought Sikes up..._

"You could search me all you like, I've never wiped your memories thus far. Now I can't say as I haven't wanted to..."

She looked. She had to, she felt as if he were telling a lie again...

There was nothing there that hadn't been said.

"I... can't believe you're actually telling the truth. There's got to be some locked door there...?"

"Selena... the mind can't lie, and if it can, I don't know how..."

Selena growled. He was right. The mind can only lie if what it's thinking is thought to be true.

And as this was a matter of his own opinion and past... there was nothing that he could have done.

Quite suddenly, Cyrus (surrounded by a field of bluish light) flew down the stairs.

"WHOO!" she screamed before doing a couple of flips and a landing that would've normally sustained a back injury.

"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Syndrome cried from the top of the stairs.

"He's a feisty one," Cyrus replied. She then whispered, "Actually, this is just an illusion, I'm actually upstairs. This is fun!" She then disappeared.

"It'll wear off…" Rylan started. "She'll get used to him and then she'll be fine…"

_Yeah, and then when she's done obsessing over Syndrome, maybe she could kill Rylan for me..._ Selena thought to herself.

"She better be better before Basta is brought here..." Selena spit out.

"She WILL," Rylan spat in return. "Even if I have to make sure of it."

"Make sure of it? By going green-eyed? Do you know who you are, and what you are?" Sikes growled at Rylan.

"Sikes, I'm sure he all about it, who he is, and what he is. And personally, I wish I had been struck dead in the street before I had asked him for help." Selena replied in a sort of side-quote of Oliver Twist. Sikes seemed to notice.

"You sound just like Nancy... If I hadn't seen that oil-less light, I would've thought you were lying about the future, and that you, Nancy, were hiding something. More than just telling everyone about Fagin and I."

He held his jemmy almost the same way Selena had. She backed away two paces.

"I've told you before, I'm NOT Nancy."

"Sikes! How many times do I have to tell you, CALM DOWN AND KNOCK IT OFF!" Rylan yelled.

"You shut the hell up!" He said, turning from Selena to Rylan, and then back. He pressed the flat side of the crowbar on Selena's neck, and pressed lightly. Selena gasped a bit. "If you aren't telling the truth, I'll know before long. You were never a good longterm liar, Nancy."

_Distract him!_

"Sikes..." Rylan closed his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them, they were a familiar shade of green. He walked slowly toward Sikes. "Over here..."

"Damme," Sikes said before being overtaken.

_DAMMIT, I MEANT USING YOUR BRAINS, NOT YOUR POWERS! Ugh, I should always remember that from now on. "Never ask Rylan for help." If you had just said something, I could have taken the crowbar from his hands and gotten away._

Rylan did not reply save for a flip of the mental bird.

Sikes was no longer himself again, just a vegetable controlled by Rylan's mind.

"Why in the blazes of Hades did you resort to that? You know there are other ways to control people besides CONTROL!" Selena shouted.

"What more did you really expect from a power freak?" Rylan asked with a smirk, dismissing Sikes and turning on Selena. "I'm never happy, never satisfied until I control everything."

"You've already controlled him once, you're still doing so to keep this operation moving, why the hell did you need to do more?" She continued angrily.

"I don't know, a hobby, an obsession maybe..." He trailed off.

"All I really know is that you were a challenge to put under... and I rather like a challenge."

Selena gulped. "You- you need to be careful how you word things-" she shuddered. "That's- that's rather creepy to hear from an old guy like you." She looked over at Sikes to get the thought out of her mind. He had gone into his room, where he sat on a chair, still seeming somewhat lifeless.

"You pervert..." he spat maliciously. "I didn't intend it like that. That would be highly uncalled for. I don't appreciate those methods of torture." He stopped momentarily, then continued. "And Sikes is older than I. So don't go thinking I'm old."

"He's twenty eight, dumbass," Selena retorted.

"He is still older."

"Only a few months difference. He looks younger than you."

Rylan growled and stared at Selena, eyes glowing brightly. "You should learn to shut your mouth, girl, lest someone shut it for you."

Selena realised what was happening not a moment too soon. She knew the control patterns, was there anyway she could think fast enough to break out of it?

_Go to sleep, Selena,_ Rylan's mental voice commanded harshly.

Selena felt her eyes droop. "N-n-n-" She tried to say no. She fought against the exhaustion sweeping her body. She tried to think of anything- everything- to fight it.

_He's got you! COME ON, SELENA!_

She fell into a crumpled pile on the floor... sound asleep.

Rylan smirked. "Two down, two to go…" He really didn't know why he wanted everyone in the house under his influence… maybe it was just because he wanted some peace and quiet. He walked up the stairs and overheard whispering coming from Syndrome's room.

"So when are you going to test it on someone else?" Cyrus's voice asked.

"Soon, Cyrus…" Rylan could tell simply from the tone of his voice that Syndrome was smirking. "Very soon."

"Test WHAT on someone else?" Rylan entered, his ability at full strength. Cyrus was instantly captivated, but Syndrome had the foresight to look away before Rylan entered.

"Look at me, Syndrome," Rylan started.

"Nah, I'll pass," he replied.

"What the…?" Rylan blinked. There should've been absolutely no reason that Syndrome could defy him!

"Although, you might want to release Cyrus."

"Why? And I asked what you were doing!"

Syndrome pointed at Rylan, and a zero-point-ish beam struck him, although it was green instead of blue. Rylan felt his entire body seize up, and then his mind went blank.

"Seeing as how you won't remember any of this anyway, I'll tell you. I've been looking for a chance to monologue today.

"Cyrus was acting. She's a huge fangirl, but she's more interested in helping me than chasing me around. The whole bit this morning was just a ruse to allow us to conspire.

"I've created a device that mimics your ability, as you probably already guessed. Although mine has an added benefit… it can affect more than one person at a time. But unlike you, I'll only use it when I need to, because you don't seem to get the point that eventually they WILL build a resistance to it. I don't want to use it liberally enough to make everyone resistant, now do I?

"Now then. I heard you from the vent in the floor. Go release the two downstairs, then collapse right in front of them."

Rylan quickly nodded and headed out the door.

---

Earlier that day…

It was late night, or more accurately, early morning. Cyrus was exhausted (having just woken up from her faint), but nevertheless attempted to peer over Syndrome's shoulder. He, however, had different plans, and beat her at every turn, shielding the mechanism from her view.

"You almost ready?"

"Almost."

"You used the battery I stole for you?"

"Yes, thank you."

"And I still can't see what it is?"

"Not yet."

"Come on…"

"Well, I can let you in a little on it…"

"Okay!"

"Well. I had a function that allowed me to look briefly into people's thoughts, but if their thought had a memory attached, I could see the memory too. Well. I tested it on Selena and things ended… badly. So I'm modifying it."

"So now what does it do?"

"I can't tell you yet. It's almost done…"

"…Okay." Cyrus sounded dejected, and backed up.

"Now it's done…" He re-attached the control to his wrist and turned around.

"How does it work?"

"Well, it's similar to my zero-point energy in the trigger, but it's completely different in function… Do you want to see?"

Cyrus looked genuinely ecstatic. "Of course!"

"Alright…" He smirked and set off the trigger, surrounding Cyrus in a pale green light.

She froze.

He released her, but she didn't move.

"Come over here, Cyrus."

Cyrus walked almost mechanically over to him. Her eyes were glazed over and she didn't seem… "all there."

"Now…" he paused. "Don't bother me. I know you will, if you fainted simply from the sight of me, you'll bother me, but I'm asking you now not to. You can appreciate me, like me, hell, you can even be rather fond of me, but make sure that this instills in your little fangirl mind where the fine line between pleasantly annoying and crazily obsessed is, and stay on the pleasantly annoying side, please."

Cyrus nodded.

"You can wake up now."

Cyrus blinked. "What did it do?"

"Well, it mimics Rylan's ability, mostly. That was the major inspiration for it…"

"Oh. Can I see it work on something else?"

"Well, there's nothing around to put it to work on…" he stopped. "But basically, you push this button and it starts to function…"

Cyrus yanked the control off of his wrist with a "Yoink!", and before he could protest, turned it on him.

"Syndrome…" She stopped, and the light faded.

"Yes…?"

"You really need to go to sleep… On your bed, though, please…"

Syndrome walked over to his bed and promptly collapsed onto it.

Cyrus smiled a little and re-attached the control onto his wrist, then pulled the blanket over him.

"Sweet dreams, Syndrome," she whispered as she closed the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Rylan moved slowly down the stairs. He was so exhausted, he just wanted to fall asleep... but he had orders to carry out. He reached the bottom.

"Selena, Sikes, you may wake now," Rylan called in a somewhat monotone voice.

A moan of pain could be heard from both Selena and Sikes. Selena was the first to open her eyes. She looked up. "Oh, god damn you, Rylan." She glared and then stood.

Rylan stood, silent. _Sikes_, he thought numbly. _Sikes isn't here..._

Selena looked in Sikes's room. He still wasn't quite awake, though she heard mumbles.

"Sikes is right here, asshole. Dunno why YOU of all people are so worried about him, you act as if he's just meant to be thrown around." Selena growled.

_She doesn't understand, I have to, Sikes has to be there..._

Selena was baffled by Rylan's mind. His thoughts no longer made much sense...

"Whaddya mean, 'Sikes has to be there?' What are you going on about?" She said, curiosity getting the best of her.

_He... he told me I had to... and I must listen..._

"What the hell are you playing at?" Selena asked. "You're the one wh-" she cut off as she remembered Syndrome and his Memory addition to his zero-point energy gloves.

She smirked. It was about time someone gave him a taste of his own medicine.

She walked into Sikes's room. "Oi, get up," she said, touching Sikes on the shoulder. He jumped, and had Selena by the throat within a split second.

"Don't touch me," he growled.

_Why? Reminds you of being nabbed?_

Selena asked, now quoting Fagin to get herself out of this predicament. She, predictably, was dropped.

_They're both awake... finally._

Rylan smiled contentedly and collapsed onto the floor.

"What the bloody hell happened to HIM?" Sikes asked. Selena smiled.

"He got a taste of his own medicine."

She sent a thought up to Syndrome.

_Thanks._

He could interpret it any way he wanted- more than likely he was going to be wrong, but...

_What? Anytime, I guess, whatever I did. Oh, right, that. Yeah. Anytime._

She looked at the crumpled Rylan, and then at Sikes. Sikes wasn't as crazy as he was when he came through, but... Did making Rylan unconscious make everyone he was controlling... uncontrolled?

Cyrus slowly walked down the stairs, careful not to trip. She was, after all, being controlled. She'd never build a resistance, she would always willingly go under for Syndrome.

Selena heard footsteps. "Who's'at?" She asked.

Cyrus reached the final steps and closed her eyes. "Master Syndrome sends his regards," she said, "and wishes to know what you think of his latest invention."

Sikes growled. "Just another one to control us."

"I like it when it's used on Rylan. Anyone else... he'd better use it sparingly. And he will never DARE to touch either of us with it or when I get control of myself I WILL put him back- or kill him. Whichever he feels is worse," Selena said.

Cyrus snickered. "Of course... if he didn't use it sparingly, then one would build a resistance to it. Then what good would it be? As useless as Rylan if someone built a resistance to him."

"Oh, I wish I could..." Selena whispered. "I've tried so hard."

"There are ways..." Cyrus replied quietly. "Just as there are ways of breaking down your resistance, repeated use of his abilities will raise your resistance. Of course, no matter how resistant you are to Rylan's abilities, you will still be vulnerable to Master Syndrome's, and vice versa."

"Nice to know," Selena said.

Sikes stayed silent, somewhat odd considering who he was. "What's up with you?" She asked. There was no answer.

"Sikes...?" She asked again. No response. She waved her hand in front of him and he didn't even blink. It was as if he had seen a ghost- perhaps his own. She pushed him down so he would sit on his bed. "Oh my God, he's hot." She said, taking her hands off him as if he had burnt her, though he hadn't.

"That was too much information, Selena," Cyrus replied. Even though she was still under Syndrome's control, her mind still processed Selena's words and deemed them as... too much information. Hysterics could be heard emanating from upstairs-apparently Syndrome had heard as well.

"He's got a fever, dammit, it's NOT FUNNY!" Selena shouted. Sikes blinked. She tried to read his mind.

_Heat… got to take off the coat... who is that.. Nance?_

Selena took off his black coat. She shook her head slightly. "I'm not..."

He moved a bit- a good sign? He laid back on the bed. Selena moved him (this time telekinetically) so that his feet weren't hanging off the side.

She thought desperately to Syndrome and Cyrus.

_Do either of you know how to help a fever?!_

Cyrus did not reply, as she did not know any medical procedures. Syndrome did reply, however...

_No, I don't know how to help a fever, sorry. My specialty's technology, not medicine. Maybe an ice pack or something? There should be one in the freezer..._

_Ice would make sense!_

Selena opened the freezer door and brought several icepacks flying toward her.

"Come on, Sikes. Don't die on me now. It's too early," She muttered. She put one of the icepacks on his head, another on his chest, and held one herself to keep from passing out.

Rylan twitched lightly. Cyrus took on an odd look and seemed to space out while walking over to him. She then kicked him. HARD.

As he cringed, and attempted to get up, Cyrus continued to kick him for apparently no reason at all. Eventually his glasses fell off and he fell over, giving up attempting to get up while someone was kicking him.

CRUNCH.

Rylan cringed again at the sound of Cyrus stomping on his glasses.

"That," she said, "is from Master Syndrome. He sends his regards and asks that you not try to control him again, should you want this to happen again."

"Rylan!" Selena gasped. "Do YOU know how to stop a fever?" She looked between the two as if they were playing a fast paced game of table tennis. Back, forth, back, forth, back, forth.

Rylan coughed and wiped the blood from his mouth. "No, as a matter of fact I don't. Sorry. Ask the genius upstairs."

"Dammit, he's already said he doesn't know besides ice!" Selena shouted miserably.

"How do you know he's not lying?" Rylan whispered with a chuckle.

"Shit, you're right!" She cried. She hadn't even thought to check and make sure…

_Admittedly, that was pretty genius... and theoretically, it should be true. Hey, wait! What the-? Get the hell out of my mind, Selena! I don't WANT to help Sikes!_

_Dammit, Syndrome!_

_And obviously you don't know, the fever may indicate that there's a battle going on in the body, but the raised temperature is actually FOR the body, so eliminating the fever would only make it worse..._

_What has that got to do with how to SAVE him? People can DIE from fevers, and- and-_

Selena composed herself and her thoughts.

_And if we don't save him, it will totally alter the course of an already written book. And a master plan. To take out those who always win. Like Mr. Incredible._

_Well. I suppose I will. When you put it that way. But it's not because I like him._

_Never said YOU did._

_Fine. Fair enough. The first thing you're going to want to do is remove excess clothing, like probably his coat._

_Already took off the coat._

_And just so you know, his pants do NOT count as excess clothing._

Syndrome snickered mentally.

Selena glared at him just as mentally.

_Alright, then you'll also want to get a paper towel. It's to wrap around the ice pack. It should be cool, not cold. That could cause shivering, which would make his core body temperature higher._

She nodded to herself and summoned several paper towels- much like the ones you would find at a school, the brown, rough ones. She put the icepacks in them and whispered, "Sorry."

_What next?_

_Probably find a few aspirin if we have any. If not, just have him drink cool liquids and get some rest and he should be fine. If he isn't better by tomorrow, we'll probably have to get him serious medical treatment. Which I can't provide. I just know the bits and pieces of common things... Hypothermia, fever, stuff like that._

_How could WE, of all the people on the earth, VILLAINS, get help for a storybook character?_

_Well. You asked the right person. It just so happens I have a little device here that could "persuade" them to help us._

She went to the kitchen and got a large glass of water, and brought it back to Sikes. "If you can, drink up."

_You and Rylan both. _Selena thought miserably, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Sikes.

_If I still believed in miracles, I would be asking for one right now..._ She thought, more to herself than anyone else.

_Mine's more effective than Rylan's. We'd start to look suspicious if he had to put everyone under individually._

_What, you can do them all at the same time?!_

Syndrome laughed. _You really need to watch what you say! But I can affect multiple people with it, yes. If they were standing closely enough together, maybe even hundreds..._

_Wow. Let me get this out of my system now... We're all screwed._

_Hehe. And why would that be?_

_...Because you seem to hate us all here._

She looked at the now sleeping Sikes, holding a half-full cup of water. She stood up and took it from him. She realised that he was still wearing his gloves, so she took those off too.

_Well. I don't hate Cyrus. And if you're pleasant toward me..._ _And Sikes, though I don't particularly care for him, is tolerable. Although I'll always hate Rylan, sorry._

_Thanks. _Selena thought, though she was still miserable.

Selena noticed something. She felt something strange in the thoughts of someone in this house. She probed each and every person, Sikes last. It was Sikes, dreaming.

_He had just woken up. _

_"How are you doing?" The young woman asked._

_"Weak as water," Sikes replied. _

_(This is familiar... This has happened before...)_

Selena looked at him. He was reliving the day when Nancy left to talk to Rose Maylie. He was reliving his previous fever.

_"You're looking much better..." The woman said again. She was changing, morphing. _

_(What the hell?) _

_She now seemed younger, a bit taller... _

_(Dammit, it's that girl! I knew she was Nancy!)_

_**(I'm not,) **_Selena thought to him. He received it in his dream.

_"Of course you are, you read my damned mind!" He shouted. Nancy-Selena looked at him. _

_"What are you talking about? I can't read minds! You spoke, as you always do, moving your lips."_

_Nancy-Selena moved closer, and put her hand over his mouth, as if to emphasise what she had last said. He smacked her hand off._

_ "What the hell are you doing, girl?"_

_ "Reveling in the joy that you're back to yourself, that's all." Nancy-Selena said._

The real Selena looked at him, hand on his. She never realised how big his hands were, even when clenched.

Selena left his mind alone now. She had done enough damage... She sat and continued to look at him. Though she had just taken a long nap (no thanks to Rylan) she fell asleep quickly.

Rylan picked up the shards of glass and the twisted frames and growled. He'd get Syndrome back. Oh, how he'd get him back…

Rylan hated having to see without his glasses. Without them, all he had was aura sight. And that kind of sucked when inanimate objects didn't have an aura.

It sucks even worse when you're surrounded by inanimate objects and you're trying to find the stairs.

Rylan closed his eyes. It was less distracting that way. Then he bumped into Cyrus.

"Need some help?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Shut up," he replied.

"Suit yourself," she replied, and began to climb the stairs.

_The stairs._

Rylan opened his eyes and saw Cyrus's lavender aura rising up the stairs. Lavender. The color of the aura of those under another's control. He was surprised it wasn't green, himself. That just seemed like a better color.

He rushed after Cyrus and into Syndrome's room. Syndrome's pale blue aura and Cyrus's lavender turned on him.

"What do you want?" Syndrome asked.

"I want you to fix my glasses," Rylan replied fiercely.

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because," Rylan replied, swiftly moving over to Syndrome and seizing the control on Syndrome's right wrist. "I have your control now."

"Give that back!" Syndrome shouted, making a grab for it, but Rylan was faster. "And how the hell can you see, anyway?"

"Aura sight," Rylan replied.

"Well. You can't force me to do anything. You don't know how to op-"

Syndrome was interrupted by a blast of green light coming from the control in Rylan's hands. Though Rylan hadn't said a word, Syndrome collapsed to the floor, sound asleep.

---

_Syndrome found himself in a kitchen. "WTF," he said, but then realized the situation. "O. I iz in dreem wurld nao. Ok. I iz gewd nao."_

_Cyrus entered. "O hai Sairoos," Syndrome said. "Y HALO THAR," she replied. "O wayt, ai remember da last tiem u waz heer, Sairoos..." He paused for dramatic effect._

_"I MAED ME A COOKIE, AND U EATED IT. U EATED MAI COOKIE, SAIROOS. U MUST PAY FOUR UR MISDEDS."_

_Selena popped out of the middle of nowhere. "Ugh. WTH am ai?" She looked around. "Ai c Sairoos an Syndrome..."_

_"Wele, Syndrome, is u has a wepinz?" Cyrus asked. _

_"Yus, I haz a wepinz." _

_"O shit, I can haz fiev second hed start?"_

_Syndrome mulled this over for a minute. "U can haz fiev second hed start whiel I get mah lazah."_

_"Hay, hay, hay, u noes needz violins. No murdurs yet plz," Selena jumped in._

_"But I liek violins," Syndrome protested. "Iz fun." _

_"Yea, iz fun!" Cyrus confirmed. "Iz fun and edumacational."_

_Syndrome sighed. "Sairoos, violins no edumacational. Books ar edumacational."_

_"We needz moar wepinz," Cyrus said._

_"Yus," Syndrome agreed. "We does needz moar wepinz. Slena, sorri, u no can haz pce. We wantz violins."_

_"I wan Sikez, but dat no meen I getz wut I wantz. U no can haz violins." Selena said. She had no control over what she was saying, after all, it was a dream._

_"O RLY?" Syndrome asked, and pulled out a laser. "I haz a lazer. I can haz violins now? I can haz violins or ur braynz be all ovur teh floor."_

_"O noez... fien. U can haz violins."_

_"YAAAAY VIOLINS!" shouted Cyrus. "I CAN HAZ VIOLINS! I LIEK VIOLINS!"_

_"U luki. U can haz wut u wantz."_

_"U can haz chill pill, Sairoos," Syndrome replied. "Violins no be all angreh and teh suck. Violins be fun and nesesary to get tings doen._ _But soem violins haz too be calm violins. U can freek ppl out dat wai moar."_

"_I dun want anywun hoos apposed to be teh helpurz wif mah plan to be ded pplz."_

_"Dun wurry, Slena, everyting be teh awsum. Ur borin, ai wundr wai ur in mah dreem in teh furst plaes. And sins dis be dreem, we no can haz ded pplz. I shoot u in da hed wif mah lazah? Nufin happin if I dun want it too."_

_"O hay, wat if Sikez poofd ovr heer liek me? U can haz control ovr dat?"_

_"Iz my dreem. I no want Sikez in mah dreem. He ruin it. No Sikez. But I cud if I wantd too."_

_"Den asplain how I be heer, furbal."_

_"DUN CALL MEH FURBAL! Furbal iz a kitteh. I no be kitteh! And about ur problm wif bein heer, I dun no. I no want u heer, u haz soem asplainin to do. Unless ur heer to be all symbolyc or summin. Den I ignorez u."_

_"I haz asplainin to do?! WTF, SRSLY? I haz no ideaz wai in hell I be heer! Srsly!"_

_"Srsly, den u probly symbolyc. I ignorez u nao. Sairoos, brin me mah giynt lazah. Iz tiem four violins. O hai, u wantz too cawze violins wif me an Sairoos, Slena?"_

"_Nu. I gun sit heer an be all symbolyc an shit."_

_"O fien. Be dat wai. Sairoos an I are gun caws maz violins. U funkillr, u no get to caws violins. In ur face."_

_"Ai dun wan to caws violins. Nawt in dreem, neway."_

_"WAI I NO CAN HAZ SLENA REMOVD FROM DREEM?!" Syndrome yelled. "SLENA BE BORIN AND STUPID! WAI SHE NO CAN LEEVE? WTF, SRSLY! Srsly, if Slena nawt leeve, I gun waek up. Srsly. She iz annoyin."_

And so Syndrome woke up.

---

Syndrome and Cyrus dissapated.

It was odd. She was by herself, in a little dream world.

Selena woke up.

Selena looked at the still-sleeping Sikes. She picked up the now warm liquid icepacks and sent them back to the freezer, where she got one more. She put it on his forehead after wrapping it in a new papertowel. "Hey... how are you doing? I don't suspect you can hear me at all... but you're still breathing, you must still be alive. I hope you get back to yourself again." She held his hand with both of hers. "Please, please get back to yourself again," she moaned.

She looked around. There was no one. Not a single person besides Sikes. Where had they all gone? What was the point of her very weird dream?

Syndrome flew downstairs, not even bothering with the actual stairs. He walked right up to Selena. "Alright, WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN MY DREAM?" he near-yelled.

"Quiet!" Selena growled. "And I was just about to ask YOU the same damned thing."

"Well. For the record, next time you're in my dreams, don't stop me from causing mass violence. It's not like I'm actually hurting anyone, I'm dreaming!"

"I only tried to stop you because you were going to kill Cyrus! She's just as vital to our plan as you and Sikes and Basta are!"

"It. Was. A. DREAM!" he replied as loudly as he dared. "I wasn't actually doing anything to anyone! I wasn't going to kill the real Cyrus! AND SHE STOLE MY GODDAMN COOKIE!"

"Shut. Up. It was a goddamn cookie."

"You need to learn the difference between dreams and reality, I think."

"You dumbass," She started. But she couldn't get anything out.

"Really? Is that all? That's sad, really. Because you know it's true. If I kill someone in a dream, that doesn't mean they're actually dead. I've killed you, Sikes, Rylan, Mr. Incredible... And look! To my dismay, you're all alive and well."

"Not all of us," Selena said.

"Listen, I didn't dream a fever upon Sikes. And as you'll remember, I even helped you save him. So why are you so openly hostile again?"

"You're a jerkass. That's why. Kill your own supposed friend, why don't you? It's ridiculous. Over a little cookie. WORSE than killing someone over a bunch of floating lights." Selena didn't even need to raise her voice. It was all in a whisper.

"IT. WAS. A. DREAM!" Syndrome bellowed. "I wouldn't do something that irrational in real life! And you know how the dream would've ended? It would've ended how it always ends! With her escaping, and then, hey! Guess what! She made me another cookie! And then everything's fine! The point is THERE ISN'T A POINT!"

"What in hell's fire...?" Sikes asked weakly. Selena jumped about ten feet, gave the half-gone cup of water to Sikes, and said, "Nevermind him. Drink up, it's not poisoned. I can promise I'd never do that."

"Nancy did too," he said. He took the water and drank it anyway.

"Look. Thank you for telling me how to get him better. Now leave."

"Hey! What a novel concept! You know what? I think I will! And that'll just screw up all your plans, won't it? Because I'm taking Cyrus with me! We'll see how well you fare when someone gets hypothermia."

"You go, then," Sikes would have shouted, but he still did not feel well.

Selena didn't care. The only reason she had said that Syndrome was of any help at all was because Rylan had said so. But if he was taking Cyrus, that solved the problem, right?

"Well. I'll be seeing you around. Or not. Hopefully the latter. CYRUS!" he called upstairs, and the seventeen-year-old came running. "Do you have a house?"

"Yeah, in Farleigh."

"Good, as far away from here as possible... Lead the way."

The pair was gone with a slam of a door.

Sikes smiled slightly, shocking Selena. "Finally, they're gone… I'm sick of that Syndrome."

"Yeah, me too," Selena said angrily.

"What, might I ask, is going on here?" Rylan asked, attempting to mend his glasses. "And where are Cyrus and Syndrome?"

"Taking leave," said Selena.

Rylan blinked. "You did something to anger Syndrome, didn't you?" he asked somewhat calmly.

"I kept him from attacking Cyrus, if that's what you mean." She told him the truth- just not all of it.

"He was yelling so much, he woke Sikes," she continued, grumbling.

Rylan shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you?" He chuckled. "Syndrome would never hurt Cyrus. And I heard the yelling, something about "it was just a dream?" Perhaps... it was just a dream in which he attacked Cyrus? And naturally, you overreacted..."

His face took on an odd expression. "Shame, really. I was hoping you'd be able to stay longer..."

"No," Selena growled. She knew what was coming. Not just a run of the mill control. Something worse.

"Since YOU were supposed to be the one organizing this, you're responsible for his leaving... And since you OBVIOUSLY don't have any allies anymore save for yourself and Sikes... I'd like to kindly ask you to GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE." There was an underlying threat accompanying his statement.

"You won't do what you did to Cyrus. YOU WILL NOT DO WHAT MY MOTHER DID TO ME." She hoisted him up into the air.

Rylan grinned. He had seen this coming. A black orb began to materialize in his right hand. "You seem to have forgotten something, Selena..." Rylan started.

"I am a MASTER of dark magic." He shot the sphere toward her.

Selena was flung backwards, her head knocked against the wall. "Ow," she said, as if it hadn't really hurt at all. She no longer had Rylan up in the air, obviously.

Rylan, surprisingly, landed on his feet. "Now. I'll ask you again, this time not so nicely." An orb began to form in each hand. "Unless you and Sikes want to die, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Selena felt around for Sikes thoughts, not once keeping her eyes off Rylan.

_Go get him._

"Sorry, Rylan, but I just can't do that." She pulled the rug he was standing on out from under him.

Rylan began to fall, but as he fell, flung both of the orbs in his hands at the two.

And then he landed on his face.

_Dammit, I wish I could MOVE DARK MATTER! ...I'm sorry, Bill._

The dark energy hit Selena squarely in the chest, but somehow, the other orb was no longer headed for Sikes. It was headed towards her. She was already flying back when she got pushed on the OTHER side.

She was being squeezed together by two opposing forces.

She fell to the ground, unconscious.

She should have been dead.

Rylan walked up to Sikes.

"Well," Rylan said, his eyes beginning to glow, "I suggest you take Selena and leave before things get worse. Your best bet would be to head for Farleigh and try to get Syndrome and Cyrus back. Do that, and I'll let you back here."

"Rylan. I can't do that." He said, moaning. He got out of bed and tried to stand, but fell down. He couldn't even get to his coat.

"Well... are you willing to stay here until you get well without Selena? Because it's either here without her, or on the street."

"She saved my damned life. Nancy would've never done," He said, wobbling, trying to get himself up. "But I can't stand."

Rylan smirked. "She didn't save you. Syndrome did." He paused to let that sink in. "She didn't know a thing about how to cure a fever, and well, he did."

"Of course," Sikes groaned. "Well then. I choose here."

"Good choice," he replied, and began to write a note.

_Dear Selena,_

_Seems everyone's abandoned you, eh?_

_Well, if you want to come back here, I won't let you in unless you're accompanied by Cyrus AND Syndrome. Good luck with that._

_By the way, Sikes is staying here._

_Have fun finding them, I heard something about Farleigh, on the other side of town._

_Rylan_

He rolled up the note, placed it in her hand, and picked her up and took her outside. He walked around for a bit before finding a suitable alley and dumping her in it.

And so Rylan left.

Sikes was still in the same spot... looking at where Selena had been. "What a fool."


	10. Chapter 10

Note: No hobos were harmed in the making of this chapter.

* * *

Selena woke to extreme pain. She looked around, finding herself in an unfamiliar alley. "Sikes?" She called out quietly. No response. Realising she had a note in her hand, she unrolled it and began to read.

_Dear Selena,_

_Seems everyone's abandoned you, eh?_

_Well, if you want to come back here, I won't let you in unless you're accompanied by Cyrus AND Syndrome. Good luck with that._

_By the way, Sikes is staying here._

_Have fun finding them, I heard something about Farleigh, on the other side of town._

_Rylan_

Selena tried to stand, but she could hardly get herself to sit up. She shouldn't have survived that blast, so it made sense as she started to remember. She got herself sitting and looked around. Nothing was working, her muscles, her sight...

She saw a small piece of rubbish lying about. She tried to move it... It did a backflip and then stayed put. "Dammit," she mumbled. It seemed that the only thing working now was her water-pipes. Tears drenched her face, making it even colder than it was.

---

Cyrus stuffed the key in the lock and twisted as hard as she could. The door clicked and she opened the door. "Well, here we are," she said to Syndrome. "This is it."

"Pity, really..." he said. "I really wanted to read another one of those Harry Potter books."

"We can get some from the store later."

"Fine..." Syndrome seemed flustered. "How long do you suppose I'll be stuck here?"

"I don't know, as long as it takes for Selena to get over the whole "trying to kill me in your dreams" ordeal. What's her problem, anyway?"

"I dunno..."

---

Selena breathed in and out, trying to find some sign of where she was. She couldn't be TOO far away from Rylan's home, after all, he wasn't at all strong. Unlike Sikes.

_Dammit, Selena, stop thinking of him! _her mind shouted.

She pulled herself up slowly. Every step she took was painful. Her face still fresh with tears that she should never had cried, she felt the wind against her. She looked around. She knew these alleys like the back of her hand... of course, that was now covered with blood that she hadn't had before.

Selena fell over several times before she was used to walking again, and even then, she almost fell with pain.

Selena was soon in a downtown district. "Funny, never thought Ravensburg ever had such bright lights," She muttered. It had taken her quite some time to get to where she was, it was night. She looked around at the bright flashing lights and stores still doing business. She saw a colourful banner and was drawn to it.

"COMING ATTRACTION: MAGIC SHOW IN EAST LOTUS CITY!"

"WHAT?!" Selena shouted, drawing attention to herself. Realising it, she shouted just as loud, and a much more cheerful, annoying valley-girl teenager's voice, "I LOVE MAGIC SHOWS!"

The others on the street grumbled, but she was no longer in the spotlight.

_How the hell that wimp got me here..._

She looked around. Even though it was dark, the streets were still bustling. No one in these parts had even heard of her... that was even better. She was going to need to be concealed to get practise…

---

Selena woke up the next morning in an alley. "Now it's time to get some practise," she said to herself. Near her was a dumpster, which a hobo was looting.

_Ooh, time to play some tricks for practise!_

Selena concentrated all of her energy into one thought- she wanted the old, moldy food in the poor man's hands to float.

She backed behind the dumpster so she couldn't be seen and she felt a small pull. And then it was a tremendous pain. "Ugh," she groaned in whisper. "This thing's heavy!" Suddenly, she heard screaming. "HEEEEEEEEELP!" She jumped.

_Oh, shit!_

She got up from her hiding spot and looked at the man, upside down by his foot.

Selena tried to flip him back, but instead got that mouldy cheese she had been going for earlier. He was still upside-down.

She finally couldn't hold on anymore, and he was dropped... on his bum, the old bum. Selena heaved a sigh of relief.

If she had accidentally killed him?

She would have been put in jail, she didn't have a way to hide here!

Shuddering at the thought, Selena walked out of the alley towards the downtown area.

Selena was out in the bright downtown area. Across the street was the main park, to her left was the pamphlet about the Magic Show in East Lotus, and to her right was a mob of people. She ran across the sidewalk and then the street- the sidewalk was most certainly more dangerous- and found a bench to sit on.

Many people rushed by, on their way to a store or their workplace. This was one of those towns where everyone could walk anywhere, and did so, apparently. Selena heard a buzzing noise. She cocked her head, trying to see where it was coming from, and then it was full out shouting. "OH GOD!" she shouted as a good 1,000 sounds came running through her at once.

She covered her ears and it did not help.

A few people stopped to stare, but most went on their busy ways. She shook her head, trying to get the voices, thoughts, memories out of her mind. She tried to concentrate it on her own thoughts, but couldn't. It was too loud...

Selena couldn't stand it anymore. She ran as fast as she could, where she was going she had no idea.

She would stop as soon as it was quiet.

She was following the sun, it was east, but she couldn't tell even that. Her own thoughts were long gone, it was everyone else's.

She was out of breath before long. The sound was a bit more quiet, but still too much to handle.

She turned several times, lost.

_Damme. I wish I had a map._

Was that her thought? Well, she was louder than the rest.

She hadn't gotten very far.

She was still downtown.

She sat down on a bench again, unaware that it was a bus-stop.

The sounds going through Selena's mind kept her from thinking too much.

It was like the middle point between two radio stations where you could hear both, only about 500 times that.

Suddenly, she heard a real noise. A large bus stopped in front of her and opened the doors. She jumped for a moment. She concentrated on her thoughts...

_How much does this cost?_

"Fifty cents in-town, a dollar-fifty if you plan on going to Farleigh or Lotus City. 2 dollars for Lilyport, and there's no way in hell you're getting me to take you to Ravensburg," The bus driver shouted to her. "Are you gonna get on or what?" Selena jumped, she was just trying to get rid of the noise, not actually ask him.

"Yeah, sure," She shouted over the voices. She rummaged through her many pockets. Where had her money gone? "Ah, here it is!" She said, even louder. She got on the bus and paid her dues.

"Are you hard of hearing?" The driver shouted back to her as she took her seat.

"Today I am," Selena said, miserably. The sound was not as bad now, but she could hear one voice, one thought in particular. It was the driver's.

"Today you are what?" he asked.

"Erm. Going to Farleigh. Maybe you're hard of hearing." Selena covered, realising she had read a thought instead of hearing words.

The driver shook his head. "Alright. That's the next city on my route, but it's gonna take a while. So kick back."

She took out her Oliver Twist book and put it on the seat next to her. She was going to get practise somehow.

The thoughts running through her head were mostly hers, a few of them were staticy- from outside the bus- and one of them was just "Turn left here," and "keep going until Third Avenue." She then thought of a better idea.

"Do you happen to know a place where I can get playing cards?"

---

Syndrome sat cross-legged, reading the third Harry Potter book. "This one is better," he commented to no one in particular.

Cyrus looked at him strangely and picked up her sweater. "Well, fun as this is, I'm going to the store to get the last three. Just in case you finish the Goblet of Fire while I've got my back turned." She went out toward a small bookstore/gaming store.

---

Selena got off the bus. It was much, much more quiet here in Farleigh. Only a few thoughts from random people... did that make them extremely stupid, or all just deep sleepers? She walked into the store the bus driver had told her about and found her (stolen) money.

Cyrus pulled the last copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off the shelf and was walking back to the front desk when she spotted a familar mop of dark brown hair. "...Selena?" she called cautiously.

Selena jumped about a mile. "Who the hell is that?"

"Hem hem," the checker 'coughed.' "Excuse me?"

"Excuse you," Selena said rudely, and then checked herself. There was no-one in the store besides-

"Cyrus? Seriously?"

"Dude, seriously!" Cyrus grinned. "Somebody "up there" must like us. So what happened to you? I thought you were with Rylan in Ravensburg."

"Shush!" Selena mumbled as she grabbed a deck of cards. "And try and quiet your thoughts a bit. It hurts!" She walked up to the front desk and paid for her cards.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't know. So how's it been going with Rylan? I mean, you're not in Ravensburg, so..."

"What do you think is going ON? You make it sound absolutely different than what it is," Selena said. "You know what, don't answer that. I hear enough thoughts as it is, I don't need you to speak any more of them." She waited for Cyrus to buy the books and they left the store.

"Well... I don't know!" Cyrus stated, disregarding Selena's 'don't answer that' statement. "That's why I'm asking. I want to know why you're here."

"Okay. First off, it's not a relationship. So don't make it sound like one," Selena growled, a bit ticked. "Secondly, ever since you two left, Rylan went psycho on us- Sikes and I, that is- and threw me out. To East Lotus. Using his own muscle. That I didn't even think he had." She shook her head. "Sikes is still there," she said. She should never have let herself get attatched to Sikes. He was an asshole, after all, he killed- erm, was going to kill- his own prostitute. That loved him.

"Why did he throw you out?" Cyrus looked puzzled.

"My usefulness had run short. My plan- my damned plan, foiled by SYNDROME of all people, the one HE wanted to bring- was falling apart so he took it upon himself," Selena growled.

She wrapped her coat tight, a very cold wind blew. It was becoming winter, bit by bit.

"Well..." Cyrus paused. "From what he told me about what happened, he had a dream that he was chasing me around in, and you got mad because there was an intent to kill, but it was just a dream and you flipped out anyway. So he left."

"He was trying to kill you over a cookie."

"But it was a dream... and he's not that irrational in the real world." Cyrus didn't seem even slightly bothered by it.

"It was over a stupid cookie!" She shouted. "A damned cookie that didn't even matter!" Selena shook her head. She had lost everything, including her mind. A tear ran down her cheek. "It's so stupid, someone would kill over a COOKIE."

"But it was a DREAM!" Cyrus yelled back. "I've killed people in my dreams over less, hell, I've killed people IN REAL LIFE over less!"

Selena watched the stoplight turn from red to green. She shook her head, vivid memories, from cookies to christmas lights, all going through her mind, as well as images of murder on the streets.

"Look, I'd better be going. I've got a magic show to practise for."

Cyrus sighed. "Look, if you need a place to stay, you can stay at my house, but I'm going to warn you that Syndrome's there."

Selena shuddered. She'd rather bring them back so she could see Sikes soon... "Do you have an empty room? Or, for that matter, a floor?"

"I have an empty room and a floor." Cyrus laughed. "You can come whenever you want."

"You know, I would never do this unless that "Someone up there," that you mentioned to before made me," Selena said. "Syndrome better not be a pain in the ass."

"Oh, trust me, he will be. You just made an offer too good to refuse, I think."

Selena blinked. She heard what Cyrus was thinking and was no longer confused.

_Seriously, she just made an offer too good to refuse for one of the authors. He's going to be sooooo irritable… _

Selena laughed.

---

Cyrus knocked. "You'd better not be dressing, Syn, we're coming in."

"We?" Syndrome inquired as Cyrus entered.

"Erm.. yeah," Selena said, peeking in through the door like a little child over a tall counter.

"Well! Look what the cat dragged in!" Syndrome sneered. "I thought you hated us."

Her head was buzzing with words, she almost missed what Syndrome had said.

"Erm. Not both of you... besides. I need a place to stay."

"Well, you realize you'll have to put up with me, all the time. And should you intrude into my dreams again-" he grinned sadistically- "I'll shoot you on sight with an Uzi."

"A WHAT?" Selena screamed.

"An Uzi. It's a submachine gun. Submachine guns have the cartridge of a pistol and the automatic fire of a machine gun. The multiple gaping wounds you'll have are just to be thorough. I really don't like it when you're in my dreams."

"Well, EXCUSE me! I had no choice that last time. I don't even know how the hell that happened- I was out. The first time, I was trying to wake you up! And, mind you, you sleep like a ROCK." Selena growled.

"I'm still going to shoot you."

"OKAY, I HEAR YOU!" Selena clapped her hands over her ears. Of course, this didn't help...

_What's with her?_

"What's with me? Earlier I woke up WITH NO FUCKING POWERS. I tried to steal something from a hobo? I lifted the dude up instead. I can hear everything, I used to be able to tune it out, it HURTS, Sikes is still with Rylan, he doesn't give a damn about me even though I saved his fucking life, my PLAN AND POWERS HAVE BOTH GONE TO HELL because SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD PLOTLINE-"

She attempted to throw the brick-doorstop at Syndrome.

"HEY! Don't blame me for what Ashley thought would be a good idea! Dani writes me, it wasn't her idea!" The brick missed and went through a wall.

"Wait..." Syndrome glanced behind him.

"Starting there..." he started, pointing to the wall on the right with the door, "and counting in a counter-clockwise fashion... that's the fourth wall... You just broke the fourth wall, Selena."

"Oh, I've already done!" Selena said, exasperated. "Now, are you going to let me in? Or do I need to replace the wall, first?"

"Nah. I think it might get some abuse... You can come in, I guess."

Cyrus kicked the "fourth" wall for good measure.

_Why is it that everyone has a better house than I do? _Selena thought, hoping that it was to herself.

She couldn't control what she heard, and she obviously couldn't control what was sent...

It wasn't quite as big as Rylan's, but that didn't matter much. It was still more than the little run-down shack she had back in Ravensburg.

Selena stood there. She felt rather nervous, though she didn't know why.

Oh.

Wait.

That's what it was... She was standing in Cyrus's home where Syndrome and Cyrus had been living, and she was supposed to bring them back.

She slapped herself mentally, and then pulled out her deck of cards.

"I don't assume either of you would be willing to help me with my powers, would you?"

"Would you scream if I said yes?"

"Yes, you ARE willing, or yes, you AREN'T?"

"I'm asking if you'd scream if I said yes, I was willing to help you."

Selena screamed.

"I didn't say I was, I was just asking." Syndrome laughed.

"Well," Selena said, catching herself. "Now you know." She made a face.

_Asshole_.

"I suppose since you were charitable enough to let me laugh at you... I'll help if you really, really need it. And you'll owe me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll owe you. Whatever," Selena sat down on the couch, and fanned out the cards. "Pick a card, any card. Just not this one." She pushed out a random card.

"Okay," Syndrome replied with a grin, and picked a different card.

_Huh. Jack of Hearts. Isn't that ironic._

He actually held the Nine of Diamonds.

_Dammit, he was supposed to pick that card!_

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me," he said with a laugh.

"Damn you." She saw two cards before her- a Jack of Hearts, and a Nine of Diamonds.

"You forget, I"m smarter than you."

"No need to flaunt, most people are," Selena snapped. "Not much of a victory. Now put your card back in the deck."

Syndrome smirked and pushed the card back into the deck.

"Now... lemme see here..." Selena said.

She imagined the Nine of Diamonds floating up in the air...

And up went the Jack of Hearts.

"What the fuck, that wasn't the one I was meaning to put up!" Selena cursed. "Oh well. Is that your card?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"Then-" Selena went through the deck by hand after placing the Jack off to the side and found the nine of diamonds. "This is it."

"Well, you have me there. But you're a telepath, that's not fair."

"I'm a telepath that is missing most of her powers. Well. They're at baby-level."

"Cyrus would have to go through the whole deck before figuring out what card it was. 'Is this your card? Is this your card?' Fifty-one times. And then she'd throw away the last one, thinking you were lying, and it'd be your card."

Selena laughed a bit.

_How to get them to Ravensburg..?_

"There's no way in hell I'm going back."

Selena jumped.

"Dammit! That was supposed to be a THOUGHT!"

"I could hear it, loud and clear," Syndrome replied with a grin.

"If it makes you feel better, I couldn't," Cyrus added.

"You probably have that damned glove on, then." Selena growled.

"I modified it, it doesn't do that anymore. I can't read your thoughts. You just suck at keeping them in your own mind right now."

"You both HAVE to come back," Selena groaned. "I don't even have a plan!"

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

_Thanks, Ashley!_

"Scratch that. I do now."

"It's a plan.. that I don't think even YOU could refuse. But first- is there anyone outside that might hear us?" Selena looked at the hole-in-the-wall.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Ask the authors! You can contact them through the hole in the fourth wall."

Selena walked over to the wall and leaned out. "Is anyone out there?"

Selena looked around. Nothing...

"How much do you guys like fire...?" Selena asked, walking back to the middle of the room, speaking in a hushed voice.

"I LOVE FIRE!" screamed Cyrus. Syndrome nodded his agreement.

"Shush, Cyrus. Not so loud," Selena said, pointing at the giant hole. "There's still a chance."

"That's a hole in the FOURTH wall, Selena. Only the readers can hear us through a hole in the fourth wall."

"Well, excuse me for being genre blind. Anyway. Here's what's going to happen. Recently, I heard that there was going to be a Miss Universe pageant in Main Lotus," she started.

"I am NOT going to anything like that," Cyrus and Syndrome responded simultaneously.

"Shush, shush. You don't have to see any of it. What we're doing, strictly speaking, is... well... making the show come alive, yes, alive. Only not. What I plan on doing takes all of us- yes, when I say all, I mean all. Even Bill and Rylan, though they got rid of me. Even... a new friend. That book that I stole from my mother's, Inkheart? It's got a villain with... a burning passion." Selena continued in a somewhat mysterious manner.

"A burning passion for what?" Cyrus asked.

"Probably burning things," Syndrome replied. "Since Selena would never say something that didn't have a direct correlation with what she was talking about."

Selena nodded, and then took a quick double-take. "HEY! What're you going on about?!" She shook her head.

"Anyway. We're going to set fire to the Universe Pageant, and everyone who attends will BURN. It's going to take a lot of work, especially more practise for me, but everyone uses their strengths. First, Syndrome. You're going to need to find out the security measures, what the building can do. Then, once we have a good idea of what we're getting ourselves into, Rylan will take control of any and all guards around this place and put them to a good deep sleep, or kill them, whichever works the best. Sikes, being a murderous bully, will quickly change into one of the guards's outfit. Syndrome, if there's any way we could get the doors to lock but be able to get Cyrus, who will make the crowd think they aren't on fire when Basta sets the match, you'll need to do so. Sikes will murder anyone who tries to come in after the doors are locked. I will serve as a... walkie talkie system, so to speak, in case something unexpected happens."

She paused for a moment, and then asked, "How does that sound?"

Syndrome blinked. "Well, if I hadn't known it was Ashley's idea, I would've said "I didn't think you were capable of that kind of rational thought." And it's still pretty amazing. You've covered all the angles I could see... of course we'll have to analyze it and any flaws that may arise, but..."

Selena growled at Syndrome. "She would've given it to you if she didn't think I was capable, thanks."

"But I'm not a main character, now am I? Plus, I'm from a fanfiction, that wouldn't be quite fair."

Selena shook her head. This is what she got when she read a genre-savvy super-genius into this world.

"Of course it is, and thanks for the compliment."

"Damme," she muttered. "Still need some work."

Selena yawned. When had she slept last? Was it really less than 12 hours ago?

"Oi, what time is it...?"

Cyrus glanced at the clock.

"6:57."

"Holy shit! I'm usually just waking about now… Damn Rylan and Sikes..." Selena rubbed her eyes. "How to get myself back on schedule here...?"

She looked about the house from where she was standing. "Where do you least mind me sleeping?"

"There's a room upstairs, the one that doesn't have the floor covered by various random papers or half-finished inventions."

"Okay," Selena said, and after her first step towards the stairs she promptly fainted.

Cyrus glanced at Syndrome, who rolled his eyes. "You couldn't just carry her?"

"You have zero-point energy! Why the hell would I want to do that?"

Syndrome glared, and Cyrus kicked him. "Fine!" He began to move Selena upstairs with his zero-point energy.


	11. Chapter 11

Selena awoke from her fainting fit with a scream.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"I dunno, I was bored!" Syndrome grinned.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE MY BODY AS A TOY, SYNDRONE!" Selena shuddered at the terrible image rising in her mind. Well. She would have if she hadn't been under the zero-point energy's influence. Instead, her face looked utterly grossed out, but her body showed no emotion.

"Don't CALL ME THAT!" Syndrome yelled back, and threw her into a wall.

"Fuck," Selena said, groaning. "That's right. Touchy about how your voice works." She sighed and sat against the wall, not even trying to get up. "I'll just sleep here tonight."

"There's no way you're getting me back to Ravensburg," he spat. "Not for anything in the world."

Selena took a deep breath. She needed Syndrome's mind for this new plan of hers... she sighed, and said, in the most convincing lie she had ever pulled off...

"Look, I'm sorry. You scared me, you got to understand how WRONG what you said sounded, and how it would feel to wake up motionless except for your face. I... spazzed and called you Syndrone."

"Okay, whatever. I'm still not going back."

_Dammit_.

"I'm not going back there as long as Rylan is there."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I think we HAVE to have Rylan...though he doesn't do much in our plan, he gives us food and lodgings, he DOES help a bit.. as much as I hate to admit it.. and he's got Sikes- oh, fuck. Screw Sikes," Selena shook her head, as if she was trying to rid herself of something. "I know you hate Rylan. EVERYBODY hates Rylan. But we've got to endure it... because if we get caught... He can take the blame while I send you, Sikes, and Basta back to your worlds and Cyrus and I run for the hills."

She paused for a moment. "After all. He's been incarcerated for murder before."

"I'm staying with Cyrus." Syndrome bit his lip. "I've gotten to know her better recently..."

Selena sighed. "My dreams, my plans," she started, "just went up in blazes."

_Good for you._

A sad smile crossed her face.

_Huh_? Cyrus was mildly confused.

"You'll let me stay here until morning, won't you?" She asked. "I'll go get the fiction tomorrow and come back the next day and put you both there... somehow." Selena shook her head. "I should've known it would never work."

"No, you don't get it... Cyrus is all for your plans, and... well... She isn't going to let me NOT help..."

Realising that her head shaking and nodding was more of a nodding off sensation, she closed her eyes... She thought a single word and finally went off to sleep.

_Thanks_.

---

The first one to wake was the supergenius.

Syndrome was mildly disoriented for a good thirty seconds after he woke. Something was wrong. Something had gone wrong in the dream.

Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

He could still see it! But wasn't he awake? Shouldn't the stains be gone?

But to his dismay, the red tint refused to leave his hands.

He stared at his hands, horrified.

They were stained with blood...

Her blood.

Selena mumbled a few words. "No... don't... don't... don't..."

Suddenly, she screamed out, breaking the silence. "DON'T SNEEZE!!!!"

She woke with a jolt.

"Selena!" Syndrome yelled, and rushed into her room.

Selena jerked the covers over her body. Wait. Covers?!

"I'm sorry for invading your personal space, but..." His breathing was shaky.

"What the hell is the matter?" Selena looked at the ginger. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Look! Her blood is all over my hands! You were right...!"

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL?!" She jumped out of bed, ran towards the door, and grabbed Syndrome's wrists.

There was nothing on his hands.

She stared at Syndrome.

"Wh-what are you staring at me for? I didn't mean to! It just kind of happened!"

She looked at his hands again- for a split second, she thought she saw blood. Her mind was catching a glimpse of life through Syndrome's eyes... but she blinked and the vision was gone.

"There's nothing there, Syndrome." she dropped his hands, realizing she was still holding them. She wiped hers on her pants.

"You don't see it?" Syndrome was mortified. "That's her blood, Cyrus's blood! I killed Cyrus!"

"What's going on?" Cyrus called from behind them. "What's wrong?"

Selena jumped back a bit, but not as much as Syndrome jumped high.

All the color drained from Syndrome's face. "Y-you're dead..."

"Obviously not, she's alive and well. But I thank you for putting my thoughts on dreams into consideration," Selena pointed out.

"She's dead," Syndrome persisted. "She wouldn't be all blurry if she weren't..."

"Does Syndrome have glasses? Or contacts?" Selena asked Cyrus. "Wait-wait a minute. She's blu- check his eyes, Cyrus. I think I see the smallest tear!"

"No glasses, no contacts..." Cyrus replied. She gently touched his shoulder, but he snapped backward. "Don't touch me. I killed you. I don't deserve it..."

Selena looked at the two, and felt disgust. "I'd use the term 'get a room,' but seeing as I don't own this one, if you'd get out of the doorway, I'd appreciate it. Thanks." She grabbed her coat.

"Shut the hell up!" Syndrome shouted. "I KILLED CYRUS. Her blood is still on my hands and now I'm seeing her ghost, and you're pretending THIS ISN'T HAPPENING?!"

Selena groaned. "If only I had learned how to teleport... but that wouldn't be good right now anyway, I'd probably splinch myself."

Syndrome was angry with himself, he was very, very mournful, but most of all, he was scared. He truly hoped this wasn't really happening, that it was just an unfortunate extension of the dream sent by Selena to teach a lesson.

"Please, make it stop! I swear I'll never go after anyone again!" Syndrome pleaded.

"Make it stop?" Selena asked. "I'm not doing anything! Purposefully, anyway. If I'm doing something, I can't help it, you know how I am right now," she continued, "I have NO CONTROL. But don't swear what you just did. We need you to be able to go after those bitches, remember..."

"I-I meant in my dreams..." Syndrome was getting progressively more unstable. "This is a dream, right?!"

Selena searched his mind thoroughly. She couldn't find anything that was making him this way...

"Cyrus, how much control do you have over your powers at night?"

"Just as much as in the daytime..."

"Because I know that I can't control some things when I'm asleep..." Selena sighed.

_Do you think you could illusion him to stop imagining this?_

_Truthfully, I don't know. I hope so, and I can try..._

_Please do. If it really is me, I can't do anything about it._

_I don't think it is. Something just snapped because of that dream in his subconscious. Or so a little birdy told me that flew out of the hole in the fourth wall._

_That hole is still there? Sweet! Erm, I mean…_

"Syndrome..."

"I... Cyrus, stay away from me."

Cyrus looked hurt. "Syndrome, not even death could keep me from you, no matter how sappy that just sounded."

Selena choked. "Very," she spat out.

_Shut up, Selena! I have a plan!_

"Syndrome, there's a way to bring me back."

He froze.

_Oh no, don't say it..._ Selena thought to herself.

"Just calm down... If you're on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it won't work."

"Well, it's too late for that, then."

"Listen. Just relax."

Syndrome still looked extremely apprehensive, but he at least made an attempt to regain his composure.

"Now close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close 'em. Now."

Selena shifted her weight, and turned around. She put her coat on and looked for her gloves, trying to occupy herself.

Syndrome slowly shut his eyes.

"Now keep them closed until I tell you to open them."

Cyrus concentrated on the "blood," gradually causing it to fade.

"Okay, open."

Syndrome blinked. Completely gone. The blood had vanished from his gloves.

"HAH! Found 'em." Selena said, holding HER gloves in the air like a trophy.

She did a quick pivot. "Everybody sane again? No? Good."

"You're not dead?" Syndrome asked Cyrus.

"Nope, never was. You just had a really bad dream, and your subconscious associated it with "A dream is a wish your heart makes" and... well. You kind of snapped."

He nodded. "Now what?" he asked Selena.

"What, you're asking me?" Selena asked, laughing. "Hell if I know! Go shout through the broken wall down there for some help!"

"You're supposed to be the one with the plan! We shouldn't have to ASK the authors what's supposed to happen!"

"True point, true point." Selena scratched her head. "Eureka!" She paused. "Actually, what Einstein said was, "Oh SHI-" but the science texts always leave that out... Anyway. Onward to... well. Rylan's. But I need all the help I can get on the way there, remember." She poked her head, and muttered a small ow. "I've kinda lost it."

"If you haven't noticed, we've ALL lost it. Hell, I just snapped mentally! I mean, years of Super genocide and a fucking dream sets me off? REALLY!"

Selena sighed. "It's all Rylan's fault. I can only hope Sikes isn't dead, being stuck there with him."

"Since when is a dream Rylan's fault? Unless he implanted it in my subconscious to drive me absolutely crazy... Let's go kick his ass!" Syndrome exclaimed, deciding that his theory might not be so outlandish after all.

"We're off to kill the wizard, the horrible Rylan of... something."

Cyrus was not quite sure where Rylan was from that only had one syllable.

"Well, if I'm a witch," Selena said, not getting it, "Hear, hear!"

Cyrus and Syndrome just stared.

"You just killed it, Selena."

"I thought that was the point?"

"No. It was a messed up-quote from The Wizard of Oz. They go to SEE the wizard, not kill them. But we're off to kill Rylan, so..."

"Oh. Sorry. I've only seen one musical, and not even a single movie- my mother was a telly hog," she said.

"WHAT?!" Syndrome yelled. "You mean you brought me into this universe and YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW A THING ABOUT ME?!"

"Um.. only what I read from Rylan's mind..." Selena said, anger raising. "It's funny how you don't even question my mum. But then again, you know all about it..." She growled a bit. "I knew enough that I contested reading you here. But Rylan always HAD to have his way."

"Actually..." Cyrus interjected. "Rylan's never seen The Incredibles. I just told him about it."

Selena stared at Cyrus.

"What? Whatcha staring at me for?"

"Nevermind. Let's just go."

---

"Alright, where was that store from here?" Selena asked, looking at the unfamiliar streets of Farleigh. "I know the bus drops off there… and I REALLY don't feel like walking much farther."

"I forgot," Cyrus replied. "I'm bad at that kind of stuff."

"What, seriously?" Selena groaned. "Well, let's just take a stab at it, then..." They started walking in what they hoped was the right direction. Along the way, Selena noticed a small cardboard box "Hey, catch!" She said, trying to direct the box towards Cyrus.

The box hit Syndrome in the head. "Hey! Watch where you're throwing that!"

"Oops," Selena said, with a hint of sarcasm. "Sorry, wasn't aiming for you." She tried to bring the box back to her.

The box smacked Cyrus in the back of the head. "I don't think that box is very social," Cyrus commented, rubbing her head.

Selena caught the box. "Sorry," she said, now smirking. "I told you I need hel- HEY, lookie here!" She looked ahead of them. She could see the store already. "I didn't know you lived THAT close!"

"Neither did I," Cyrus replied.

She saw the bus coming in their general direction. _"HEY!"_ Selena thought to the bus driver, waving her hands and shouting it as well.

The bus slowed down and came to a stop. It was the same guy from yesterday!

"You, kid, have one loud voice. Nice to see ya agai- who're these guys?" The driver asked.

"I'm Cyrus," Cyrus replied. Syndrome didn't reply audibly.

"And he's Syndrome."

"Like a disease, Syndrome? What kind of hippie parents did YOU have, kid?" The driver asked. Selena snorted. "How much for the three of us?" she asked, driving off that subject.

Cyrus replied anyway. "It's a nickname, not his real name. His real name is far more embarassing in my personal opinion." Syndrome glared.

"I doubt there's anything worse than Syndrome," the driver said. Selena shuffled her feet. "Come on... We need to get off... aren't you going to be off schedule?"

"No, I'm about ten minutes ahead, actually," he said. "It's fifty cents in-town, like I've said before, but this time it's a dollar fifty for Lilyport or East Lotus, for each of you."

"What about Ravensburg?" Cyrus asked sweetly.

"What in hell's fire do you want to do there?!" The driver asked. Selena growled a bit.

"Hell's fire. EXACTLY." She attempted to lift the driver off his seat a bit.

"Irk!" The bus driver clapped his hand around his throat.

"We've got nine bucks. TAKE US TO RAVENSBURG."

"F-fine!"

Selena let go of the man mentally, and grinned inwardly. She did it right!

"Here's your nine bucks. Edge of town, Lilyport side is fine."

Selena sat down on the seat closest to the driver. "If you DON'T take us there...? Expect something worse than hell."

"Especially since you made fun of my name," Syndrome added.

_Okay, Sikes…_

Selena took that back quickly.

_Erm. You know what I mean._ _I hope._

_I get it. All "My Name."_

About halfway to Ravensburg, Selena noticed a few adults standing on the street, waiting for the bus.

_Shit. _she thought to Cyrus and Syndrome.

The bus doors opened.

"Five to East Lotus," an older man said. He handed the bus driver money.

"Sir, just so you know," the driver started. Selena tightened her grip on his throat mentally. He coughed, and Selena let go. "... We have some priority passengers today. It will take a bit longer than it would normally. However, the next bus is arriving here in about five minutes, which is shorter than it will take to get back to East Lotus. I recommend waiting," he said.

"No, I don't mind, do any of you?" The man waited. "No, none of us mind. We're in no big hurry."

The group of five boarded the bus. One man, looking to be a bit over thirty, and four women that seemed to be from fifty to eighty, sat behind the three villains, unaware of the danger they were in.

One of the women spoke up. "You three seem a little YOUNG to be out on your own, don't you think? Especially during a school day!"

_"I'm TWENTY-THREE!" _Syndrome yelled to himself.

Another woman commented on Syndrome's hair under her breath. "Young whippersnappers. Always doing crazy things to themselves. Did I tell you about my granddaughter who pierced her belly button?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT SYNDROME'S HAIR?!" Cyrus screamed.

The four women jumped and then chattered away about 'kids these days,' and the man smirked slightly. "Calm down, kid. What did you call him?"

"His name is Syndrome," Cyrus said with an eye twitch. "You want to make something of it?"

"No, no! And neither do any of these ladies here. They've never been to a costume convention before, so they have no idea. Syndrome from The Incredibles, huh? Interesting choice," the man said.

"Costume convention! HAH!" Cyrus laughed. "Oh, yeah, costume convention," she added quickly. "I'm... um. Gardenia. From Pokemon."

"My son used to love Pokemon. Now he's fourteen and he's 'too old' for it," He smiled sadly. "Kids grow up too fast. And how about you? You don't look at all familiar?" He asked Selena.

"Erm. Nothing you'd know of. It's a rather obscure character." Selena said. This was going to be a loong ride.

For Selena, maybe. But Cyrus had found out that this guy knew about Syndrome. And she proceeded to fangirl about Syndrome RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM.

---

Selena's eyes had been glued to the window for most of the ride. Lucky her, being squished against the bus, however, Syndrome had fallen off of his seat several times during the ride, so it wasn't AS bad. She saw a familiar street.

"...and really, he knew what he was doing! That's why Mirage is stupid."

The man nodded. "That makes sense. You haven't really converted me to be a Syndrome fan yet, sorry, but I see your views."

Selena saw a view too. Another familiar street. She pulled the string hanging from the window, and the bus came to a stop.

"Well, we're here," Selena said.

"Maybe I'll see you guys again," the man said as the three stood up. Selena smirked.

"Yeah, maybe in a breaking-news story about how three people dressed up got lost trying to find a costume convention... or something to that effect," she said. She winked at Cyrus, and then they got off the bus.

"Wow," Cyrus said as she stretched. "I haven't ranted like that for at least a year."

"I could believe it. You talked that guy's ear off... I feel sorry for the in-mates near you in jail," Selena said.

"You would," Cyrus said disapprovingly.

"I was thiiiiiiis close to killing that guy and then those ladies to cover for it," Selena said, holding her fingers about a half an inch apart. "If he hadn't said Costume Con, I would've."

She started to walk towards the alleys.

Selena looked back at Cyrus and Syndrome. "Are you coming, or am I going to have to drag you two?"

Cyrus blinked and followed. Syndrome rolled his eyes.

Selena ran through the twists and the turns of the old alleyway system. It made her feel alive again...Right until she knocked on Rylan's door and Sikes opened it.

"Wot the bloody 'ell 'ave we got 'ere?" Sikes shouted. "Why, it's the Witch!"

Selena growled. "Minus her powers." She looked behind her.

"Tell Rylan I've met his requirements... They're back a little ways, more than likely eating something besides food," Selena said, shuddering. Sikes shut the door in Selena's face.

Cyrus snuck up behind Selena and dopeslapped her. "We weren't snogging, shaddup."

Rylan opened the door to find Selena, Cyrus, and a VERY choleric-looking Syndrome.

"I've done it," Selena said. She checked herself and added, "I've brought them here."

"So I see," Rylan said, annoyed.

Selena sensed the pissed off nature... how could she help it? Her powers were haywire...

"What, have I interrupted something between you and Sikes?" Selena said, taking the annoyance and throwing it back at him.

"No. I was hoping that you weren't coming back. I didn't expect Syndrome to agree to come back..."

"But you expected me to FIND them? Especially after being passed out for HOW LONG? Out in the middle of NOWHERE? WITHOUT MY POWERS?"

"Actually, I was mildly hoping you had died."

Selena snorted. "I'm too evil to die. Thought you'd learned that one."

"Well, I can hope, can't I?"

"Well, then, if you're going to be that way, I'll just set flame to your house instead and call it even," Selena said, then looked at Cyrus. "You have a match handy?"

Cyrus grinned. "Boy, do I!" She pulled out a Colt Python. "Whoops, that's not it." "Holy shit, where did you get THAT thing?" Selena said, in shock.

"Um... somewhere..." Cyrus replied sheepishly.

She then proceeded to pull out a full matchbook and three lighters.

"Hah, thanks!" Selena took the matchbook and a lighter.

"You are NOT setting my house on fire," Rylan protested.

"Why shouldn't I?" Selena asked, taking a match out.

"Because it would be rather unfortunate for your allies to... say, turn against you and beat the living hell out of you, now wouldn't it?"

"Syndrome may hate me, but Cyrus would never beat me up," Selena said. "Besides. He wouldn't hate me for setting your house ablaze." She struck the match. It didn't catch.

_Damn_.

"Are you brain-dead? You've forgotten my abilities? It doesn't matter if they don't want to. It only matters if I tell them to."

"How the hell could I forget that?" She said, striking it again. It again didn't light.

"Third time's the charm," she muttered.

"Then why are you still striking matches?" Rylan asked smugly.

Selena struck it for the third time and it caught. "Because," she started, "'what's the matter with a little drop of danger every now and then?'" She shook her head. "No, that's not the right quote... Eh. Nevermind. It's because you don't think I could do it."

Rylan leaned forward and blew out the match, just to spite her. "I know you could do it, but you aren't going to."

"FUCK YOU!" Selena screamed. She put the lighter to the match. It didn't light. "You spit all over it!" Selena realised.

"Didn't want you to try to light it again." He snickered.

Selena clicked the lighter and waved it in front of his face. "Too bad you can't spit THIS out."

He sent a glance Cyrus's way. "No, I can't. But Cyrus could always put it out."

Cyrus, under Rylan's control, made an attempt to trip Selena.

Selena jumped. She was ready for anything. "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! Jack jumped over the candlestick!"

Rylan turned to Syndrome with exactly the wrong timing.

Rylan's eyes met Syndrome's in the same instant that Syndrome turned on Rylan.

Rylan was consumed in a green light and Syndrome was frozen in place.

Selena looked at Rylan. "What the fuck...?" She turned around and saw Syndrome's now-green eyes.

"Well, this is a paradox if I ever saw one... "


	12. Chapter 12

Selena poked Rylan right between the eyes with her free hand. "Nope. Nothing..."

"ANY HELP OUT THERE?" She shouted.

Selena searched their minds out of curiosity.

_No... come on! Ugh... Nothing... Move, damn it! Look away! Something! Urgh... come ON, Syndrome, MOVE! You can control Rylan! DO SOMETHING!_

_...huh? What? What's going on...? ugh... I want to go to sleep already... why the hell can't I go to sleep?_

"Sleep, then, Rylan," she said. She went up to him, let go of the lighter-button, and took off his glasses. "Do I need to close your eyelids for you, too?"

_...oh, hey, thanks. That would be nice..._

She tried to close his eyelids with her mind... after a good two or more minutes of struggling with her power, she got them closed.

Rylan's knees buckled as he slipped into unconsciousness, thereby releasing Cyrus and Syndrome.

"Hey... Selena. I never thought I'd say this, but... thanks."

Selena was just about to use the Staples motto to her own advantage when she heard Syndrome. "What did you just say?" She said, in shock.

"...thank you. I could have been standing there until the batteries ran out... and then, I'd be controlled by Rylan..."

"He was dead tired," Selena said, smirking at her own joke. "It wasn't too hard." She stopped to think. "And, well. Thank you for fighting. I would've thought you'd've accepted the chance to let me catch on fire."

"On my own, maybe." He grinned. "But not of Rylan's accord. I'd never want to do anything he told me to, simply because he was the one who told me to do it."

Selena rolled her eyes. "Do either of you mind helping? I'm not quite practiced enough yet to lift up whole bodies on purpose."

Syndrome utilized his zero-point energy on Rylan. "Mind if I put him in some pain before I set him down?"

"Go right ahead. And while you're at it, throw Sikes over there against the wall or something. God knows those assholes need it."

Syndrome grinned. "My pleasure." He proceeded to smack Rylan into the doorway on his way in.

Syndrome kept moving, knocking Rylan against the ground, walls, and also the refrigerator.

He then brought Rylan up to the ceiling and dropped him, making his way toward Sikes' room.

Selena opened Sikes's door as she followed Syndrome.

_Sorry, I've GOT to see this._

Sikes, unaware of the door opening, was clicking his flashlight on and off to the rhythm of My Name. "Some git slummin' wif 'is valet..."

"Got pwned by Syndrome in the alley," Syndrome finished with a grin, and turned on the zero-point energy. "Now Sikes' eyes'll never tally, he's never heard of my name!"

Selena had never laughed so hard in her life.

Syndrome pounded Sikes against the wall a few times with the zero-point beam, then dropped him.

"Happy?" Syndrome asked.

"Yes, thank you VERY much," she said, tears in her eyes from laughing too hard.

Syndrome chuckled and left the room.

Selena looked at Sikes lying there unconscious. "Should I throw you out to East Lotus? See how you fare?" She asked herself.

"Ugh... he... didn't want to throw you out... thought that you'd saved him," Rylan muttered sleepily. "Then... I told him about... Syndrome... and he was all for it..."

Rylan dozed off again.

She pivoted, and looked directly at Rylan. "Wh-wh-what?" Selena said. Her happy feeling was gone. "What did you just say?"

"Nnh…" Rylan groaned.

Selena was twisting her head back and forth. Sikes, Rylan, Sikes, Rylan, Sikes, Rylan.

She turned to Sikes and fell to the floor with a rather loud 'thump.'

Her knees now officially hurt, but she didn't care.

She crawled to Sikes. "What did he tell you? What did Rylan tell you?"

Sikes, however, didn't make a sound. He didn't even move, save for his chest rising and falling slowly.

"I'm sorry," She said, shaking her head. She attempted to lift him up onto his bed... instead, she only slid him towards it. "Damme," she cursed.

She shook her head, stood up, and walked out of the room, over Rylan's body, and up the stairs.

She ran across the room and went to her bedroom, slammed the door, and sat on her bed, pulling out Oliver Twist from her coat pocket.

She threw the book against the wall using her powers, and threw her coat over the damned thing.

"Fuck," she cursed quietly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. I should never have told Syndrome to beat the hell out of Sikes... he's going to die even sooner now..."

Selena tried to let her mind wander so she could get back to her normal sleeping schedule.

But the more she tried, the more she thought.

_Oi. Anyone in this house know how to temporarily erase memories so I could possibly sleep?_

_Well..._ Syndrome began to reply, _I could kind of do that..._

_What the bloody hell do you mean by 'kind of?'_

_I could put you under like I did Rylan, and then your mind would go blank..._

Selena thought about it.

_I dunno..._

Selena thought again, and then jumped about a mile.

_WAIT, DID YOU SAY 'PUT ME UNDER?'_

She tried to shut out two sickening thoughts at once.

_I can't think of any other goddamn way to put it, alright?_

_Alright, blank my mind for me..._

_Where are you?_

_My room. Do you HAVE to come in for it to work?_

She shuddered violently.

_I could stand in the doorway, if it's any consolation._

_Fine, fine._

She attempted to open the door.

It squeaked an inch open.

"Damn."

Syndrome climbed the stairs and paused in front of Selena's room. Why was he doing this again? Oh. Right.

"Dunno why the hell you're so helpful all of a sudden, but thanks," Selena said. She shuddered again and said, "Please get this over with- ugh, even THAT sounds wrong."

The voices were crowding her head again.

"Cyrus..."

"Sleep..."

"Ouch..."

Syndrome rolled his eyes and activated the alternate zero-point energy.

Everything disappeared, and even the realization of its disappearance disappeared.

Selena fell back, her eyes closed, and she was asleep.

---

Selena woke up a while later. She left her room, and peeked out the boarded window- it was night. "Yes! Back to normal."

Selena looked around. There was nothing to do; no one else had gotten back to the 'regular' sleeping cycle yet. She saw a television, and turned it on quietly, flipping channels. "And so, the cat now has only one life left-" "-newest president-" "Have you slept more than twelve hours in the last twenty four?" Selena jumped. It was as if the telly was talking to her. "Do you feel physical pain all over? Do you feel alienated or awkward in social situations?"

Selena nodded. "Yes!"

"If you have one or more of the following symptoms, you may have a form of depression. Depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain." Selena turned up the volume a bit.

"Although it is hard to treat, there are many medicines that can help, as well as therapy with a trained psychologist or psychiatrist."

Selena groaned. "Yeah, like THAT would help." She started flipping channels again. "I want to be the very best-" "Charlie the Unicorn has many-" "-got BIZZ-AY!"

Selena jumped. She looked around, thinking that Syndrome had maybe woken up and was talking to someone, but she looked at the TV and saw a very animated movie. "No fucking way. This is NOT right. This is NOT The Incredibles." It was. She flipped the channel, shaking her head slightly at her bad luck.

Selena went 'around the horn' once. Nothing much on... She flipped back to The Incredibles. "Why not. Everyone else seems to know a lot about it... maybe I'll be able to make Syndrome shut up for once."

"-throw some screaming people!" the televised Syndrome exclaimed in an utterly girlish voice. "Then when all hope is lost, Syndrome will save the day! I'll be a bigger hero than you ever were!"

A rather bulky blond replied, "You mean you killed off real heroes so you could PRETEND to be one?" He was wearing a similar outfit to the other three non-Syndrome characters onscreen, obviously part of a team.

Syndrome spun around and began to yell. "Oh, I'm real! Real enough to defeat YOU! And I did it without your precious gifts, your oh-so-special powers. I'll give them heroics, I'll give them the most spectacular heroics anyone's ever seen!"

"HAH!" Selena burst out laughing. "Heroics? From YOU?! Good luck, guy."

The televised Syndrome continued, not hearing Selena. "And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can have superpowers, EVERYONE can be Super. And when everyone's Super..." He let out a very un-heroic laugh. "No one will be."

The Disney Channel went to commercial break.

"I don't give a damn about that bloody Hannah Montana. Hurry the hell up!" Selena said, throwing a pillow from the couch at the screen.

"Having fun?" a familiar voice recently televised before the commercial break asked.

"It's back on already?!" Selena said, looking at the screen. However, she saw no cartoons. "What the f- Oh, snap," she stopped, turning around. Syndrome was standing behind the couch.

"Taking an interest in my life, I see. I bet you'll find the ending hilarious."

"Aw, don't ruin it!" Selena cried. "I'm bored, what more do you expect? Search the channels, there's NOTHING on. Oh, and by the way..." Selena said, turning to face the TV so that the scowl on her face wouldn't be seen turning to a smirk, "...your mum 'got bizz-ay.'"

"You'd be surprised how often I get that. Not 'your mom' jokes, but plays on the 'got bizz-ay' quote. It was funny at the time, but now it's been overdone."

"Damn," Selena cursed. "It was the first thing I heard when I was flipping channels- oh hey, it's back on!"

Syndrome leaned on the back of the couch and watched as a giant robot attacked a city. The television's Syndrome attempted to stop it, but the robot shot at him and he fell onto a rooftop, unconscious.

"That had to hurt," Selena said, snickering slightly.

"It did." Syndrome seemed a bit pissed.

A segment with the obvious "good guys" came and went with them beating up the robot with the "awesome power of teamwork."

Selena shook her head. "Always the good guys," she groaned.

The "good guys" were going home in a limo when there was a cry of "I didn't call a replacement!"

The good guys rushed into their home to find Syndrome holding a baby. He spun around and froze the team with zero-point energy.

Selena blinked. TOTAL OWN. But she wasn't going to say anything. Syndrome didn't need his ego inflated any more.

"Ssh... the baby's sleeping," the 'toon Syndrome near-whispered, then let out an evil-sounding laugh.

"You took away my future. I'm simply returning the favor. Oh, don't worry, I'll be a good mentor, supportive, encouraging... everything you WEREN'T. And in time, who knows? He might make a good sidekick."

Syndrome tossed the team to the side and blasted through the roof, flying away with rocket boots.

Selena was taken aback. "Everything you weren't? What? How did you know those guys besides them being the good guys?"

"The big blond one... I'll explain later. I have to go get something to drink," the real Syndrome replied curtly. He promptly left.

"Oh, well then. Don't answer my question," Selena said, shifting in her seat. "Could he be...?" Selena thought aloud. "Nah, how could that blonde dude be his father? They look about the same age." Another commercial was soon over.

In quick succession, the baby burst into flames, garnering an extremely girlish scream from Syndrome; turned to some heavy sort of metal, causing his rocket boots to be unable to support both their weights; and transformed a third time into some sort of demon baby, which pulled out some of his hair (which got another girly scream) and caused one of his boots to malfunction, throwing him onto the wing of the jet above.

Selena laughed at the girly screams.

The baby was saved, and Syndrome began to threaten.

"This isn't the end of it! I WILL get your son eventually! I'll get your son!"

Then the blond man threw a car at the jet.

The resulting explosion knocked Syndrome backwards, near one of the spinning turbines.

Despite the televised Syndrome's attempts to desperately claw his way from the inherent danger, he kept falling backward. His cape caught in the blades, and Syndrome let out a final scream before being pulled into the blades as the jet exploded.

"...I...read back a DEAD person?" Selena said, blinking. She shook her head. "Of course I did, I read back Sikes, too. But what. The. Fuck."

She thought about it. "But he knew how the story ended? That DOESN'T work!"

Syndrome re-entered the room, strangely enough without the drink he had been going to get. He glanced at the television and frowned, but stayed in the room.

"Your question about how I knew them?"

"Is followed up by 'How the hell do you know your own ending?'" Selena finished.

"You're so OBVIOUSLY alive," she groaned a bit. "Sikes doesn't know how he's going to die, and yet you saw it coming enough to 'leave for a drink.'"

"Well, you read me from a fanfiction. And in the movie, I died, but in most fanfiction, they come up with ways that I could've survived. And I only left because my screaming is highly embarrassing."

"It was pretty funny. But now I have more questions..." Selena sighed. The perks of being able to ask someone who was there didn't exactly outweigh the cons of Syndrome. "How did you know about the fan fiction, then? And who are those good guys to you?"

"I know about the fanfiction because Cyrus showed me some of her favorites at her house and a couple of them happened to correspond with a few events I recognized. And your other question is a long story, so I'll ask if you really have the time first."

"I said before, I'm bored to death, " She said, flipping off the television. "So, explain. You know enough about my life for me to kill you for it. Or just read you back."

She looked for the old paper that had been typed out, but couldn't find it nearby. She sighed, and then said, "So let me learn some of your weaknesses."

"The fanfictions were called 'Comics, Cookies, and Revenge' and 'The Redemption Clause,' by the way," he added before beginning his tale.

"When I was eight years old, I was a huge fan, possibly even enough to be called a "fanboy", of Mr. Incredible. He was the blond Super you saw on the movie. He had super strength."

"The guy who threw the car at you," Selena nodded.

"One day I tried to help him fight the villain Bomb Voyage, but he completely rejected me because I wasn't a Super.

"All I had back then were rocket boots. That was it. And I even said, 'I can fly! Can you fly?' And do you know how he responded? 'Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.' Turned down my GENIUS because I didn't have those precious powers.

"So I decided I had to exact my revenge on him. I invented for money, mostly WMDs, selling them to whoever would buy them. Inventing pays surprisingly well… Then I built the Omnidroid as a part of Operation Kronos. The Omnidroid was the big robot that you saw."

"Cronos? That sounds familiar. Like, chronological order?"

"Not quite... Cronus was Zeus's father in Greek mythology. It's a play on that."

"Ah, I see. And, that robot thing- Onidroid, you called it? Why did it beat you up?"

"Omnidroid. Anyway. It was a learning robot, designed to find out weaknesses, powers, anything that could pose a danger toward it.

"Unfortunately I didn't remove this function from the final version, and it got smart by realizing that I was using a remote to control it in an attempt to outdo Mr. Incredible in a battle of heroics.

"Naturally, I was defeated."

"Damn, that's one smart robot. Mind if borrow one?" Selena asked.

"It cost a lot of money, and it was the only one left. As you saw, it got completely annihilated by Mr. Incredible and his family."

"Shit, you have a point," Selena said. "So, wait, that was his family? Mr. 'I work alone' has a family?"

"Yes, in fact, he got married the same night he rejected me. That's why I believe that it was the fact that I wasn't a Super that he rejected me."

"Huh. He didn't realize that you had Super-esque brains. Apparently that doesn't count for anything, huh…?"

"Obviously not, seeing as how he didn't have any. Moving on…

"After they defeated the Omnidroid, I tried to steal their son in a last ditch effort to get revenge, but as you saw, even that failed, and they presumed me to be dead. But as I'm here... obviously they were wrong."

"Obviously," Selena snorted. "How could you escape an explosion of that proportion AND getting sucked into a turbine? Just recently, a few birds flew into both turbines of a plane over near the Hudson River, and they showed how it just... chops away," Selena said, a little sickened by the thought of a human being chopped into those pieces, even if it WAS Syndrome.

"Well, the zero-point energy stopped the blades with only a few injuries, but I wasn't exactly able to get away from the explosion unscathed..."

"Lemme guess, you're missing a few toes or a pinky finger or a part of an ear? Perhaps some of your hair got chopped too?"

Syndrome smirked humorlessly. "If I were missing any of those, wouldn't you have noticed? Anyway..."

"Mmm… no. I wouldn't have, because those gloves of yours cover your fingers, those boots cover your feet, and your hair, which GROWS, mind you, is covering one of your ears."

"Clever, but in the least, if I'd been missing fingers, then those fingers of my gloves would be limp. And they're not." He wiggled his fingers at her for emphasis. "And I'm not missing any of that anyway."

"What, then?" Selena asked. "You seem to be, with the exception of the 'toon appearance, exactly the same."

"That's just it, isn't it?" He smirked again. "You can't tell?"

"Nope, I'm too stupid," Selena growled.

"No one else has been able to tell either..." He lifted his right arm and moved it around a bit. "This one? Isn't human."

"What, seriously? Seems to work just as well as your other one..."

"That's just the thing, it does work just as well. You aren't giving me enough credit here. Only thing is I can't feel anything on that arm."

"Huh..." Selena said. "Man. What I would give to not be able to feel..."

"It's only physical, and only on that arm. And it's actually rather annoying. Sometimes you forget you're holding things. Or you don't know someone's touching you. Things like that."

Selena's eyes gleamed a bit. "I'm not touching you," she said in the most annoying childish voice she could conjure as she poked Syndrome's right arm.

Syndrome glared. "I can still see you, you know. It's not like I'm blind."

"I know, but I couldn't resist," Selena said, grinning. She lifted a pencil and brought it slowly to his arm.

"You're a strange one..." he said with a quizzically amused look.

"Coming from the man who stole a baby to get back at someone they used to fan-boy, I'd say I'm rather normally strange, not strangely strange, thanks."

"I didn't say you were strangely strange, I just said you were strange."

"The word strange is starting to sound strange..." Selena said.

Syndrome had nothing to say to this.

"Is everyone else STILL asleep?" Selena griped.

"Probably." Syndrome grinned. "Only reason I'm up is because I have insomnia. And this time it's not from the coffee."

"Because you finally discovered Decaf," Selena smirked.

"No, I finally discovered something that tastes better than coffee."

"I don't think I WANT to know, personally. It could be ANYTHING, from chocolate milk to... Cyrus's face."

"Cyrus's face?" he asked, puzzled. "She's just a fangirl. I don't want to have anything to do with her. Anyway, it's Diet Pepsi."

"That isn't how you've behaved before...?" Selena said, backing away and running into the TV. "You two are like peanut butter and jelly."

"What do you mean, peanut butter and jelly? I thought I was making my distaste for her quite public..."

Selena's eyebrows furrowed. "Not that I saw...? You two were LIVING together, you FREAKED out because you 'had her blood on your hands,' all sorts of things!?"

"WHAT?!" Syndrome yelled. "I don't remember anything of the sort ever happening!"

"Don't play the amnesia card on me," Selena said seriously.

"I'm serious... I've never had feelings for Cyrus and I never will. I don't remember ever doing her any favors, either... I actually don't remember seeing her since she showed up..."

"You don't remember anything? ANYTHING? Not controlling Rylan? Not KO'ing Sikes just this afternoon, which I shouldn't have asked you to do? NOTHING?!" Selena said, searching his mind. Cyrus was not going to be a happy camper.

"I remember knocking out Sikes... heh, that was fun… sort of controlling Rylan, it's really hazy. I remember getting mad at you about a dream… and then leaving, then a huge blank spot..."

Selena stared. "...Wow."

Someone could be heard walking toward the room with the TV.

_Who's there?_

_Cyrus, who else?_

_Could've been anyone. Thank God it's you, though. Syndrome seems a bit... off. Oh, and I watched quite a bit of The Incredibles. Happy?_

_Yes. Yes I am._

Cyrus demonstrated her mental happy face.

Selena giggled. She saw a happy face like those Wal-Mart ones, from the old commercials.

Cyrus entered the room. "So what's wrong with Syndrome?"

Syndrome looked at her strangely. "Nothing's wrong with me, I feel fine."

"Just now, he was talking… crazy. He didn't remember seeing you since you showed up with me here, he was saying he didn't remember much, it was all hazy? Did he get a big lump on the head on the way to Farleigh?" Selena asked. "Not that I care about him, or anything."

"No," Cyrus replied, ignoring Selena's last comment. "He hasn't had any head injuries... nothing like that."

"I remember seeing you, Cyrus! Every day! Something's wrong with you, Selena."

Selena looked at him. "What the fuck? You JUST said it, I swear!" She turned to Cyrus. "I swear he did!"

"What?" Syndrome blinked. "Hey, when did I come in here, anyway?"

"I was watching The Incredibles, remember? You came in, and then left right before you died? Because your girly screams were too embarrassing?" Selena asked.

"WHAT?!" Syndrome exclaimed, completely and utterly confused.

"Déjà vu," Selena muttered.

"You're a strange one..." he said, then gained an odd expression. "Yeah, I think I get what you mean now. Never mind."

Selena shuddered. "I think this deserves the term 'Strangely Strange," she said.

"You said that once... 'Strangely Strange?'"

"Yeah. We were discussing your arm and how strange I was for 'having' to poke it. And I said that it was a lot coming from you, who stole a baby to get back at someone you used to fan-boy, and that I was normally strange, not strangely strange. But this is too strange for me."

"I don't get it... This seems really familiar, but I don't know why."

"It's because it's just happened, that's the whole point of déjà vu..." Selena said, frowning slightly. "Wouldn't YOU have known that?"

"But I don't, that's just the point... I don't have any idea what you're talking about. But I feel like I should."

Selena looked at Cyrus. "This is your area of expertise, Cyrus. You know him."

"Hell, I don't know." Cyrus also frowned.

"Hmm..."

Selena closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could.

She soon saw the doors of Syndrome's mind. "If you don't want me to see anything, now would be the time to imagine yourself closing the doors to those memories," Selena said, eyes still shut. What was she doing this for? It should've been good enough, that Syndrome was no longer sane... but she needed his mind for her plan... that and Cyrus would probably kill her with her Colt Python if she didn't help.

"...Go ahead. I can't think of anything..."

Selena looked at each of the doors carefully. Some of them had labels, some of them didn't... she soon saw one that said "Subconscious."

"Well, that seems a little too easy," Selena said out loud while her mind continued to look. She opened the door and saw the animated Syndrome standing there.

"Cyrus left?" He turned around to see Selena. "Wait, what the hell-?"

"Sorry to bother you," Selena said. "I'm just on a mission..."

"Why are you here?" he asked. "Surely you have some purpose in being here."

"Cyrus is worried. You changed all of a sudden, and I noticed, and I said something. And now I'm doing THIS for her." Selena growled a bit.

"...Oh." Syndrome stopped. "So you've noticed the switch. Well... I'm not the only one here."

"Not the only one?" Selena said, both out loud and in his mind.

"No... HE's here too. He's the one being all squishy with Cyrus. It makes me sick." He pointed down his throat and made fake gagging noises.

"HE? Who's 'he?'"

Syndrome snorted. "Buddy," he growled. "Since Cyrus is around, he's the one in control right now. He likes her... actually, he was just the one in control when the illusions started to take hold."

"Wait, wait, hold up a moment," Selena started. "Does that mean you have Multiple Personality Disorder?" Things went a little cloudy. She focused her mind again.

"Of course," Syndrome replied.

"'Of course,' he says. 'Of course,'" she said to herself. "What do you mean by 'Illusions taking hold?'"

"Cyrus accidentally caused some illusions to take hold here, making Buddy think she's better than she really is. He absolutely loves her, but I know the truth... Her desire for him-US to love her was so overwhelming it made her powers go haywire."

"Well, that's a bloody lot of sense!" Selena said. "I think she'd appreciate it if I told her, or am I mistaken?"

"How the hell should I know? I'm not her!" Syndrome retorted.

"ExcUUUUUuse me!" Selena yelled. "Fuck off, I'm only trying to help!" And with that, she let her mind's eye cloud over as much as it could.

She opened her eyes.

_Talk about touchy... How am I supposed to know what Cyrus is like? I haven't had the chance to analyze her! I've only been around her once!_

Selena shook her head a bit, trying to drown out the sound of Syndrome's thoughts.

"You might not want to hear this," she started.


	13. Chapter 13

"Might not want to hear what?" Cyrus asked.

"What's causing him to be so fucked up."

"...Tell me anyway."

"How to tell you..." Selena paused. "Well, first off... I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but he has Multiple Personality Disorder."

"And this means what?" Cyrus looked at Selena funny.

"Um... it's like he's got two different people living in the same body, the same mind, only, they have totally different thoughts, different emotions..." Selena said. She sounded like a shrink. "Many people don't believe it exists. They think that the person in question is just pretending."

"But Syn isn't?"

"Definitely not."

Selena waited a moment.

"The thing is, Cyrus," she went on, "is that you've illusioned his other personality, 'Buddy,' he called him. You probably didn't do it on purpose..." Selena paused. "But... Well, you asked. You've illusioned this 'Buddy' to make him think he loves you."

"So... he doesn't really love me?"

Selena paled, and then said, "Maybe he does, a tiny bit, but..."

"Then who does he love?" Cyrus asked. She appeared to be taking it very well.

"Himself, more than likely," Selena said, smirking slightly.

Syndrome's eye twitched. "Myself. Hah. Shows how much you know."

"Well, if you're Buddy, you might like what you've become, I have no idea," Selena replied.

"Well, as you probably should've figured out on your little trip into my mind, my personalities don't exactly like each other. Buddy is much nicer than I."

"Wait, you're aware of yourself now?" Selena asked. She was utterly confused.

"Since you made Cyrus realize that her powers were going haywire, she got them in check. So yes. By the way, you really need to stop being so touchy..."

Selena scowled. "It's YOUR fault I'm touchy, I had totally forgotten the PAIN of my past until YOU came along!"

Syndrome fell silent.

"Now you've caused Cyrus pain too, I'm sure! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER READ YOU HERE!" Selena shouted at him.

Silence filled the room. Selena vaguely thought of Rylan and Sikes, and how she probably just woke them up.

Syndrome did an about-face and began to leave. "Who did you say you loved again?" Cyrus asked. Syndrome stopped.

He bit his lip and jabbed his thumb in Selena's general direction. He left, seeming rather bitter.

Selena frowned. "What was he jabbing at?" She asked. Maybe playing stupid would mean it wasn't true?

"I believe it was you..." Cyrus replied.

"He must still be out of it, then," Selena said. She sat down on the couch.

"I... no. He wasn't..." Cyrus said, taking a sudden interest in the floor.

Selena turned on the television. She started flipping channels again. "I'm... sorry, Cyrus..." she said, the thoughts still not gone from her mind. Why did HE of all the people read from their own worlds have to like HER? Selena shuddered a bit.

"Don't be. Be sorry that you hurt his feelings. I don't care whether it's me or not. I just care if he's happy."

Selena sighed and turned off the telly. "I need to get on the job again... I'll be back sooner or later. Maybe I can keep my mind off of things besides keeping safe and getting money." Selena left the room and went down the stairs.

She went around to Sikes's room, where he was still laying on the floor near the bed. Selena got on her knees and grabbed his hand. "Why couldn't it have been you...?" She asked out in the open. "Things would've been so much easier if it had been you who cared about me." She let go of his hand and rose.

"But life's not easy. Get used to it," Syndrome said bitterly from the doorway.

Selena jumped. "Sure as hell got that right," she said, trying to pass him.

"Never occurred to you, did it?" he asked.

"Not once."

"Why?"

"Why didn't it occur to me? Maybe it had something to do with him," Selena pointed at Sikes. "Even though he had left me out to rot, I still loved him." She shook her head. "Am I Nancy or what...?" She sighed. She wasn't going to get past Syndrome, was she?

"Is he all that really matters? Is he really so great that you can't even... Forget it." He moved aside. "Forget I even told you."

Selena walked past him. She felt pained, not just her own, but Syndrome's too.

"I'm... sorry," She said. With that, she found the door leading outside and she left the house.

_Why do you say you're sorry when everyone knows you're not...?_

_Maybe, for once in my life, I mean it, _Selena thought to herself_._

---

"Come on, Syn..." Cyrus pleaded. "It's not your fault..."

"Yes it IS!" he roared. "It's ALL my fault! If I hadn't been such an ass, she probably would've at least THOUGHT about it! But I'm just so ATROCIOUS to her that she probably loathes to even think about me!"

He continued to fume silently on the couch.

Cyrus tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he quickly swatted her away. "Don't touch me."

"...Do something nice for her. Go out of your way or something."

An idea suddenly came rushing into Syndrome's mind. He dashed off to get the supplies.

---

She ran. She ran and ran. The wind against her face, the waning gibbous moon shining brightly over everything, she tried to get lost in it.

But she couldn't run from her own mind.

As she ran, she didn't notice a small pile of rubbish that was coming up close to her. She kept running until she tripped on it and fell.

Picking herself up, she noticed that it had been a box. She opened it up and saw a small picture frame with broken glass. It was a photo of a young girl, and two adults that appeared to be her parents, all of them grinning at the camera. Selena knew who the girl was straight away. What was all in this box? She pulled out a blanket, green and tan patchwork, with strings of yarn tied at random places. She looked further. She saw a small teddy bear... wrapped in broken Christmas lights.

The lights were pieces of colored paper, ripped to appear broken, attached on a few dark-green strands of twisted yarn. It had to have been made by her mother... Was she so near Lilyport?

She thought about her mother, and how she had done so much to hurt Selena. She thought of Syndrome, and how he had been thrown away just the same..."Damn," she said to herself. "I just made things so much worse for that guy." She looked at the picture of her younger self. She was so happy, she had never known a life of crime. "You have no idea what you're getting into, kid," she said to the picture.

Selena put everything back in the box and then took it. She walked a bit more slowly back to Rylan's house.

---

"Almost there, Selena," She said to herself. A small feeling of dread came over her. He wasn't going to be all mushy and shit, was he? He was better as a sarcastic member of the villainous society. She looked all four ways- no one was following her? Good. Nobody was coming? Better. She walked up to the door of Rylan's house.

_Oi, someone let me in. It's freezing out here!_

She pulled her coat tighter to her body. The box was still floating beside her.

Cyrus peeked out the door. "Hey, you're back. Syndrome left something for you on the table, come in and get it."

Selena rolled her eyes. Mushy and shit. Great. She walked in, put the box down for a moment, and went to the table to pick up a small wooden box.

It had been painted red and black, what seemed to be every villain's favorite colors. She opened it, and there was a note- and some music. Selena recognized the song immediately. It was funny, hearing the song in this form. My Name was a very haunting tune when it was in a music box. She grinned, and pulled out the note.

_Sorry for being such an asshole, hope this makes up for it._

_-Syndrome_

"Holy music box, Batman, how did he make this so quickly?" Selena asked, shutting it.

"I'm an inventor. It was easy," he replied from the top of the stairs.

"But paint takes HOURS to dry!" Selena exclaimed. "Let alone trying to figure out the holes in the rotator that plink the right tune..."

He grinned. "I have my ways."

"And it's the WHOLE song, too! The WHOLE song shouldn't be able to fit in such a small box! That's why the music boxes always just repeat a verse or chorus!" Selena was so amazed by the tiny gift that she had forgotten all about the other box that she had left sitting near the door.

"I'm a genius. I can do things previously thought impossible. Making that was easy compared to figuring out how to harness zero-point energy."

"Thanks," Selena said, smiling. Something was weird with her. Something was not right. She was a villain plotting revenge on those who cared more about looks than abuse, why was she so smiley? She shouldn't have been... However, she opened her music box again and it stopped that train of thought in its tracks.

A load seemed to come off of Syndrome's chest. She liked it. That was good.

"Wot the 'ell's goin' on 'ere?" Sikes asked, coming out of his room and into the kitchen. Selena jumped, and shut the music box. "Wot's that you've got there?" He said, holding out his hand as if he expected Selena to just hand it over.

"It's called a music box. It takes a song and puts it in a box using a little contraption. There. That's the simplest way I can put it," Syndrome replied with a scoff.

Selena looked at Sikes. "What he said," she shrugged. She kept it away from Sikes, and then opened it again.

Sikes heard the song. He glared at Syndrome and then jumped into action. He reached for Selena's neck with one hand, and the music box with the other. He grabbed her throat rather tightly. "Give me the box now," he commanded. Selena lifted it up into the air- the only thing she could do in this situation. She knew she didn't have the mental or physical strength to get Sikes off her.

_Let go of me!_

"Why should I do that, witch? Nancy? Witch-Nancy?" He growled, putting his other gloved hand around her neck.

Cyrus blinked at Syndrome, and reached into her pocket. He nodded briefly, and suddenlySyndrome was holding Cyrus's Colt Python, pointing it at Sikes's head, finger tensed on the trigger.

"Because I have a gun, Sikes," he answered.

_Sikes, let go! Don't kill me just to die by bullet!_

Sikes did as he was told, and pretty damn quickly too. He backed off... he knew his match when he saw it. A gun was too dangerous to deal with. But Syndrome seemed very stupid. Even if he had shot, the Runners would have found him, the obvious sound of a gunshot would draw attention.

Syndrome handed the gun back to Cyrus. "Let that be a warning, Sikes. Try anything like that again and you might not wake up in the morning. And Cyrus could just mask the sound of your dying screams so no one can hear you."

Sikes blinked. Selena looked extremely apprehensive. "You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"I might..." Syndrome trailed off. "If he tries to hurt anyone here other than himself or Rylan, that is."

Sikes backed off. "Damn you," he barked.

"Sikes, Syndrome is NOT Bullseye. Don't use that tone of voice." Selena said. As soon as it was out, she wished she hadn't said it, but Sikes stayed smart and backed off.

"Yes, Sikes, I would prefer it if you didn't treat me the same way you treat your DOG. If you would... never mind."

"Please, just- just go back to sleep or something. Play with your flashlight, maybe." Selena rubbed her neck.

Selena gave Sikes a little telekinetic push. He walked off, taking the hint. Selena sat down at the table and brought the still-floating music box back down.

"Some livin'," She whispered.

She opened the box again. The tune played faster than it did in the musical, but that made a bit of sense- the rotator couldn't hold notes for long, and it would've been rather boring if it wasn't as fast. Shaking her head, she realized that her other box was still near the door.

Syndrome saw the box as well. "What's that?" he asked as Cyrus began to go back upstairs, yawning.

"Something I found," Selena said, dismissing the question and summoning it towards her.

"Obviously..." he answered, then quickly tried to take it back. "I- I mean..."

"I COULD have known it was there for quite some time, Syndrome," Selena said. She pulled out the broken picture frame.

Syndrome opened his mouth as if to make a comeback, but then realized he didn't have one, and shut it.

"Finally gotcha. It's about time." She pulled the picture out of the frame and put it back into the box. The frame, though the actual glass was broken, was made of pure gold if she remembered right. She could sell it for some good money.

"Yeah, really. Selena, one. Syndrome, twenty-six, if I remember right."

"I'm too far behind," Selena moaned, and then smirked a bit. "Of course, that's because you've actually gone to school for more than two and a half months." She kept the teddy bear in the box. If Syndrome had seen THAT thing, she would never hear the end of it.

"...Check that. Selena, two. Syndrome... I don't know..."

"That surprises me! Two in one day? And the fact that you don't keep track of your own successes?" She was on a roll!

"I don't usually need to keep track of my successes, there are too many of them. If I were tracking all of my successes instead of just the ones against you, then it'd be closer to four hundred. There. Twenty-seven."

Selena snorted. "So much for my streak. Erm. I mean. Winning stre- ugh, not even THAT sounds good. I just owned myself, does THAT count for anything?"

"I have to admit, I've never seen anyone "own" themselves... so..." Syndrome laughed. "I guess I can be charitable and give you one more point."

"Is that coming from Buddy or Syndrome?" Selena asked. "Because if it's from the mushy Buddy, then I'm not taking the point."

"Not mushy all the time," Syndrome replied, "but fine, I'll keep the point anyway. Even though it was Syndrome who made the comment, just to spite you."

"Damn," Selena said. "Twenty eight. I need to get an insult dictionary or something."

"You know, you could just take lessons from the master," Syndrome replied with a grin. "I AM a genius, after all."

"No lessons for me, thanks," Selena shuddered.

Syndrome looked at her strangely. "You made that sound a lot worse than it was."

"And yet you aren't reacting..." Selena shuddered again.

"Really? Are my facial muscles not working? I could've sworn I just gave you a weird look."

"Weird look? Doesn't look any different from your normal face," Selena said.

_OWN._

Syndrome turned bright red, then smirked and turned to leave. "You, girl, are a much worthier opponent than I gave you credit for."

"Hey, thanks!" She sent the box flying towards Syndrome like she had done on the walk to Rylan's.

The box hit Syndrome square in the back of the head with enough force to knock him flat on his face.

"That, my villainous opponent, was for thinking otherwise before." Selena said, laughing.

"If I had a white flag, I'd be waving it. You've already gotten five, you'll catch up to my twenty-nine in no time..."

"I think seeing you flat on your face is white flag enough."

"Really? Gee, thanks." He got up.

"What's this?" He pulled the teddy bear out of the box. "These look like Christmas lights... sort of."

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Selena shouted, trying to tug the bear out of his hands using her powers.

He let go when he felt the tugging. "I was just asking."

The teddy bear flew straight into her face. "Ouch," She said, taking it down to her lap.

"That's twice you've "owned" yourself now."

"Just today," Selena said, putting the bear with the music box and picture frame.

"Why are you so touchy about that? The yarn and paper looks like Christmas lights... and the rest of the stuff in that box was yours... Your mom left it out, didn't she?"

"What's it matter to you? I'm selling the picture frame for the gold, and hell, I'll get this teddy bear out to the Miss Universe pageant and then burn it with everyone else," Selena growled a bit.

Syndrome blinked. "Fine," he said, dismissing it. "If you don't want to say, I'm not going to pry."

"It's about time... ever since that one day. That one day when you said 'She never said nuffink.' And then I had to go and get curious about how you knew about THAT, of all things. And then YOU decide to go and say 'Hey, she's easily distracted! Let's see if I can surprise her with a green light and get into her past!'" She knew she had brought this up several times before, but it wasn't an easy thing to forget about, to just let go.

"I... never mind. I deserve it."

"'You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.' Toy Story, one of the few movies I remember watching. Look, don't just let go because you like me. Fight back, goddammit," Selena said. She now felt stupid.

"Really? You really want me to fight back? I could, but I really don't want to start being an ass again. I like it better when you don't hate me."

"It's more fun to argue," Selena said, looking at him. "You of all people should know that." She realized something. "Wait. Did you ever get to see Toy Story? You WERE kind of in a Pixar of your own."

"Well..." He paused. "If it was made by the same people, it wouldn't really make sense if I had seen it. So no.

"And I know it's more fun to argue, but most people don't like to upset someone they have a crush on. So I was trying to be nicer, but if you like arguing, then fine, we can argue."

"Look, Syndrome," Selena started. "...you made me feel a lot better yesterday, when we came back and you beat up Sikes for me. Sure, I felt bad afterwords because I found out that he only left me to rot because you helped, but you've also saved my life from him now. That and you've made a little music box. I think Mushy Buddy's been out long enough. Be yourself."

He smirked. "That's what I thought you'd say. Now... because of "Mushy Buddy,"" Syndrome said, using air quotes, "as you called him, I really feel like yelling at something or someone, so... do you have an argument planned, or do I have to make one?"

"Well, besides your incessant wish to figure people out," Selena said, "I don't really have anything to argue about."

"Really? Then let's just go with that first one. Why does it bother you that I like knowing what makes people tick?"

"Because people like me don't WANT to know why we do the things we do. They want to be able to live without wondering what the reason is, without people always watching them, saying, 'Oh, you're a psychopath,' or, 'oh, you have powers, you're automatically going to Hell.' That and some things should remain personal. Lights, for example?"

"Some people like to know how other people work so they know they're not the only ones that are dysfunctional, though."

"But they'd be able to tell that by the way the person acts, though, without asking them questions about their old life, or reading further back than recent thoughts in the mind."

"But I'm not satisfied with that. I'm a genius, and I don't like being told that I 'don't know what it feels like' or I 'don't know what I'm talking about.' It makes me feel like I can't really call myself a genius."

"But even if you analyze it, you wouldn't know what it FEELS like, would you? You'd just know the effects and what caused it."

"I can relate to it, most of the time. Like your lights incident. I could figure what that felt like..."

"The hatred from my own mother and the cuts and the cold and the feeling of not being able to move and then the thought that you're going to die and then someone finding you who you think is saving you but really sentencing you to hell on Earth?" Selena asked, getting faster as she went on. "Do you really think you could feel that?"

"Do you really think you could feel when your hero since practically the moment you were BORN rejects you? To your face? Just because you don't have powers? Even though you have an obviously superior intelligence? Do you think you could feel the kind of pain that comes with being the sole reason that they were sentenced to fifteen years of not doing ANYTHING?! Do you think you can relate to being sucked into a jet turbine?! Everyone has their own experiences, I relate other peoples' to mine. I get close enough," Syndrome replied, some malice beginning to shine in his eyes.

"Errr..." Selena said. "I forgot about the turbine... sorry," she trailed off. He HAD experienced it all before. Down to the cuts. She abstractly looked off at his right arm.

"I bet you did," he replied. "It's just so convenient to forget it when it's someone else. It always is."

Selena felt her eyes turn itchy. "Not now," she whispered. She rubbed her eyelids as she would if she were tired and said, "Yeah. It is."

"Going on the saying... 'The only difference between humor and tragedy is who it happens to.'"

"I believe it was 'comedy and tragedy,' but yeah," Selena said, composing herself.

"Remind me never to play the Lights card again, and smack me if I do."

"Don't worry," he replied with a laugh. "I will."


	14. Chapter 14

AN: Some Pokemon references in this chapter. Including a stuffed Mudkip.

* * *

"STOP MESSING WITH MY DAMNED FLASHLIGHT!" Selena woke to much screaming. It was rather early still, the sun was still out. She got up, put on her coat and went out of the room to see what was going on.

Syndrome was using zero-point energy to play a cruel game of keep-away with Sikes' flashlight. He hovered tantalizingly out of reach with his rocket boots, moving the flashlight around.

"DAMMIT, GIVE IT TO ME!" Sikes shouted. Selena got to the living area and saw him reach for his jemmy. He attempted to pull down Syndrome with the crowbar.

Syndrome used his other zero-point energy gauntlet and slid Sikes across the floor, away from him.

"DAAAAAAAAMMIT, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!" Selena screamed, now awake. She took Sikes's jemmy and flashlight, and attempted to push Syndrome back down to Earth. "YOU!" She pointed at Syndrome. "STOP FUCKING AROUND WITH HIM! AND YOU-" She pointed at Sikes, her arms crossed at the middle like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, "YOU DON'T TRY AND KILL HIM WITH YOUR JEMMY! BEHAVE LIKE THE VILLAINS YOU ARE, NOT NINE YEAR OLDS!" She finished, breathing heavily.

Syndrome made a very nine-year-old-like pouty face and descended.

"Ugh," Selena moaned. "Do you know how irritating it is to wake up to a fight?"

Cyrus entered, rubbing her neck and yawning. "What's going on?"

Sikes growled. Selena glared at him. "I'm taking the jemmy and keeping it hidden. YOU will not find it, I can promise you." She looked over at Cyrus and sighed. "They woke me up. Syndrome had Sikes's flashlight and Sikes was yelling. Sorry for waking you up too, but I'm not like Rylan. I can't control people."

"Mmh... I think we need to get out of here, maybe the cramped space is making everyone uptight or something."

"Where is this 'out of here' that you speak of?" Selena asked, holding the side of her head. "Not Farleigh again...?"

"No, I was thinking more shopping."

Selena stared at Cyrus. "What, villains out shopping? Don't you realise how STRANGE that is?" She looked towards the stairs. "Not that I mind leaving Rylan here. It's like the authors forgot about him or something."

"Um. Well, impulsive shopping always helps me let off steam. Actually, impulsive stealing helps, but hey, I don't really want to get caught today, so I'll just buy stuff with stolen money. That works. And about Rylan, I dunno."

Sikes spoke up. "Wot, are you just gonna leave me out 'ere, then?"

"Unless you want to go shopping. Same goes for you, Syn."

"I have a couple things I wanted to get," Syndrome replied.

Selena snorted, and then looked at Sikes. "I think it's best if we don't take him out in the open-"

"Wot for?"

"Because you're not from this time! Who knows what kind of trouble you'd get into?!" Selena shouted at him, and then turned back to Cyrus and Syndrome. "I need to drop by my house quick, too, make sure I'm not recognized as who I am... you know."

"Syndrome, you should probably change too... if you have anything to change into."

"No, I don't have anything..."

"Then we have to find some stuff while we're there."

"WHAT?!" Syndrome yelled. "I am NOT going clothes shopping. That's for girls."

Cyrus smacked Syndrome. "Shut up! You're getting clothes whether you like it or not!"

"Not all girls go clothes shopping," Selena growled a bit.

"Mirage always did. That was so BORING... I can not see how someone can derive joy from trying on clothes."

"Good question, Syndrome," Selena said. "You should ask her the next time you see her."

Syndrome glared. "I hope I never do, the traitorous bitch... Great. Now I sound like Sikes."

"Very much so," Selena said, looking at him strangely. "Don't tell me..." she trailed off and let the rest of it to thought.

_You killed her too?_

_What? No. I "risked" her life calling Mr. Incredible's bluff, but I knew he wouldn't be able to kill her. She flipped out and betrayed me anyway._

_Maybe there was something Disney left out?_

Selena shrugged.

"Onward to my house- well, hopefully just me, myself, and I, but if you have to follow, at least stay outside. PLEASE."

"I'm going to go with Syndrome to get my 'car'..." Syndrome looked rather shocked at this.

Cyrus walked out, pulling Syndrome by the ear.

Selena grinned. She had seen that while flipping channels.

Selena went down the stairs, out the door, through the streets, never once crossing paths with Cyrus and Syndrome, and got to her house in record time. She didn't like shopping, per say, but she needed to get out and about more than just tripping and coming across a box of memoribilia from when she was a child. She quickly changed, no longer looking like more than a student at a local high school. She grabbed a dark blue coat that was quite warm compared to her black one, and quickly put her hair into a messy ponytail. "I'm LUNA now. I can't be caught stealing." She repeated these things under her breath while she walked back to Ochre Way.

A dark blue pickup was parked in front of Rylan's house. Cyrus was sitting in the driver's seat, waving.

Selena grinned and waved back. She came closer. "THIS is your car? You'd never know you had been a thief, ever. Your big house, awesome truck..." She looked at the pickup some more.

"Well. I didn't steal the money for this or the actual thing... used to be in the family. I think. It was at the house and it was my house. So..."

"So yeah, well, what does it matter? We look normal enough, right? By the way, I'm Luna. No screwups." She looked at the truck-bed and then the backseat. "Which would be safer with your driving, the backseat with seatbelt? Or are you pretty good at this?" Selena looked at the bed longingly. It would be awesome, she wouldn't be so cooped up. "Depends on what you mean by good... You'd probably be better off in the backseat."

Selena cursed. "Damn." She checked herself, realising she was someone else. "Darn it."

Selena got in the back and buckled up near a window. It was too bad it was winter... she could've dealt with the cold out in the back, but she was sure nobody else in the vehicle wanted a cold blast of wind down their spines.

"Well, let's go then," Cyrus said, starting the engine.

---

"Ugh, well, now I'm prepared for hell, Cyrus," Selena said, getting out of the pickup. "I do NOT feel well." She stepped on her own foot, feeling really dizzy and even more nauseous. "How do the cops NOT pull you over?"

"Well, illusions help. They don't see me."

"Good point," Selena said, falling over and picking herself off the ground as soon as she felt a bit better. "Man, I'd rather WALK back now. I'm sure Sikes could drive better than you- he wouldn't be able to get the keys in the ignition!"

Cyrus grinned. Syndrome was nowhere to be seen- mostly because he had to find a bathroom, trash can, SOMETHING, fast.

Selena felt a burning sensation in her throat.

_I'm gonna be sick, where's a rubbish bin?!?!_

She ran towards the building as fast as possible, leaving Cyrus with the car. She made it to the bin near the building before she was sick.

Cyrus followed, and eventually Syndrome joined her after he was done being sick as well.

Selena spit into the bin so she could get the taste out of her mouth. "Hey, um, what exactly are your names?" She whispered. "I'm Luna like I said before..."

"Um... Cyrus... Sol... Sola. Yup, Sola."

Syndrome remained silent for a while.

"I would say 'Buddy,' but... well." Selena snorted.

Syndrome gave her a death glare. "DON'T call me Buddy!"

"Exactly," Selena grinned. "Which is why Cyrus is going to give you a name while I go wipe my mouth with a small, stolen pack of hand wipes." She pulled the hand wipes out of her pocket.

They went inside the gigantic store.

"I need some money, Cyrus," Syndrome demanded.

Cyrus handed him a fifty and watched as he dashed off in the general direction of... the toy aisle?

Selena looked at Cyrus. "What's that all about?" She asked.

"I have no idea..."

Meanwhile, in said toy aisle, Syndrome was shuffling through a small bin of plushies. Children were staring. He pulled a blue plushie from the bin triumphantly and squeezed it. "Mudkip," it said.

"I love you, Mudkip!" Syndrome said, squeezing the small plushie.

"Mummy, i-i-it's SYNDROME!" A little girl screamed in terror to her mother in the makeup department, the next aisle over. "Yes honey, I'm sure they've got a Syndrome toy there..."

Syndrome watched the screaming little girl run for her life and decided that maybe different clothes weren't a bad idea.

Selena was in the video games aisle, staring at the screen of a handheld on display. "Holy cow, they just put these things out to PLAY here?" She asked, very surprised.

She looked for the on button, and when she found it, she turned the system on. It was a demo for some random game called "Platinum," whatever that meant. She was quickly engrossed, however.

Syndrome was walking through the aisles when he heard a strange song.

He stopped and went toward it.

"Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine..."

There was Cyrus, scanning a CD and listening to a song.

"Cyrus? I have what I need now, I think." He squeezed the Mudkip plushie in her face.

Cyrus turned to Syndrome. "Dude... A MUDKIP?!"

"Yep! Don't tell anyone, but I have a secret weakness for Mudkips."

"Hey, I'm done- what the heck is that blue blob you've got there?" Selena came back from the video games.

"It is not a blob! It's a..." He squeezed it. "Mudkip!" it replied.

"What. The. Crap," She laughed. "So I herd u liek mudkipz?"

"You heard right!" He grinned.

_Better Mudkips than me,_ she thought to herself.

"Did I also hear right that some kid got scared away from the toy aisle when you got that thing?" Selena asked. "You really need to get out-of-costume, bud."

"Don't call me that," he growled.

"Wha- oh, sorry. Didn't mean it like that," She realized.

"Yeah, I bet you didn't mean it like that. Just like you never mean anything else you say," Syndrome spat.

"And just like how you don't EVER mean to hurt Sikes!" Selena growled at him. "I know deep down you just want him gone forever, dead like he's supposed to be. Well guess what? I'm supposed to be dead! YOU are supposed to be dead!" She silenced herself. A few people had started to stare.

"We should save this for another time. This is not the time nor the place where this should be discussed."

_Moronic coward_, Selena thought bitterly.

"Oh, so you want to discuss it here, in front of all these people? And put everything at stake? Fine! I WILL! I have never said I didn't mean to hurt Sikes! And truthfully, I do want him dead! But I know the implications of killing him, so I don't!"

More eyes turned on the trio of villains. If this had happened at a school, you could've bet all your money on someone starting to chant 'fight, fight, fight...'

"You KNOW I'm STUPID!" Selena roared. "I say things before they even CROSS MY MIND! IT'S COMMON KNOWLEDGE! SO WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PICK A FIGHT ABOUT IT?!"

"I wouldn't have continued with it if you hadn't brought up Sikes! I would have just let it go! But it's all about Sikes to you! You don't care about anyone but him and yourself, you never think of how that affects anyone! LEAST OF ALL ME!" he shouted, and stomped off.

_EXCUSE ME FOR FANGIRLING! _Selena screamed mentally, and then stormed off in the opposite direction.

She found a nice wooden bench along the side of an aisle. She sat down and immediately sobbed, barely any acting necessary.

"Never mind them, they're just practicing for a play..." Cyrus said, and went after Selena.

Cyrus sat next to Selena on the bench and sighed deeply. "You just don't get it, do you?"

Selena turned her head away. She was too weak right now. She tried to silence herself.

"He goes through a lot for you, and you repay him with undying hatred, or so it seems. You don't get how much that hurts. Actually, I think you might. Imagine getting thrown out again, and Sikes not doing anything about it- EVERY DAY. Imagine the cuts you had from the Christmas lights, only fifty times worse. Try and imagine that... and you might just have a taste of Syndrome's life."

"His arm..." Selena whispered. She saw, in her mind's eye, a crudely twisted piece of metal shaped enough like a hand to work. She saw the turbine. She shook her head. She felt like she was going to be sick again. "I've become my mother."

She thought hard for a moment. Why did she like Sikes? Because she had read about him several times during her life for comfort? That was it, wasn't it? She stuck to him because she had liked him before. That's why. She felt cuts into her skin, she felt the cold, she felt the pain of everyone thinking of themselves over each other...

Selena wiped her face and looked down at her feet. "I'm such a dumbass."

"No, you just forget that some people-like Syndrome-are not so unlike yourself... And then you get angry at them, and you say things... and you forget that they had to go through something very similar. And then, behind the scenes, they become very upset and sulk for hours..."

"Where is he?" Selena asked, trying to keep her face from growing even redder.

"I have no idea..."

_Why would I want to go over there, anyway? She'll just yell at me again._

Selena looked up, wiping her face again. "I'll be right back," She mumbled. She saw a pizza in her mind, a cheese pizza. Frozen foods. She ran off, and found Syndrome standing there, leaning against a store refrigerator. Selena went up to Syndrome and hugged him, bursting into tears. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Syndrome was, quite frankly, speechless. Selena was hugging him, and apologizing. Was he dreaming?

She took a step back, wiped her face, and said, "I've turned into my mother... I've turned into my mother, but I'm stopping the cycle." She took off her coat and rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. There were many stretched out scars all over her arms, more noticable than the ones on her face. "I'm not going to EVER do this to you. It's already happened once."

Syndrome opened his mouth, then shut it again. He couldn't get the right feelings to come out...

Selena looked at Syndrome. "You really need some actual clothes," she said abruptly.

He nodded briefly.

Why couldn't he say it? Three words- but they were villains, it would be awkward... but he couldn't just let that last display go without comment... or maybe he could. Maybe that would be the better choice.

"I don't think many villain fans will be fond of this chapter anyway," Selena muttered under her breath. But she too kept silent, and motioned for Syndrome to follow her towards Cyrus.

And that was exactly what Syndrome did.


	15. Chapter 15

"Ugh, dammit, Cyrus," Selena moaned as she jumped out of the truck as fast as she could. "Learn how to drive!" She couldn't throw up again, there was nothing left in her stomach from last time. So, she wobbled up to the door and thought, _Plummy and Slam!_ to get Sikes's attention. He had been the only one awake, after all.

Cyrus stepped out of the truck, not even slightly dizzy. Syndrome, on the other hand, clung to the door for fear of falling over.

The door opened, Sikes peered out and then glared at Selena.

"Lemme in, thanks," Selena growled at him. He opened the door and allowed Selena through.

Cyrus followed, holding the door open for Syndrome, who was tailing behind greatly (mosty from being unable to stand after Cyrus's latest stunt).

"Sikes, is Rylan STILL out?" Selena asked. "And by that I mean asleep..."

"I see wot you meant, girl. Yes, he's still 'out.'"

"Damn, he sleeps more than I do. And that's saying something!"

Syndrome finally made it into Rylan's house, staggering. "Selena's right, learn to drive, I think I'm gonna be sick. Again."

"Do any of you think there might be something wrong with Rylan?" Selena asked when her stomach calmed down a bit. "He's STILL asleep."

"That's weird..." Cyrus said. "He never slept much before."

"Hmm..." Selena mumbled. She shut the door and looked over in his general direction. "Eh, so what if he is...? He left me lying out to rot like SOMEONE else I know," She glared at Sikes for a moment. "Hell, he was the reason why I am what I am, I say he deserves what's happened and worse."

"Still, Selena, Rylan can't take the blame if he's sick. He'd have an alibi."

Selena sighed. "True point. Let's go see what's wrong with him, then," she muttered.

Rylan was not well. Whatever Sikes had, he had caught it, and of course no one liked him enough to help him, oh no... So he had been sleeping for severely long periods of time, but to no avail.

Selena felt Rylan's forehead. "Yup. He's burning up," she groaned. "Worse than Sikes was. Whatever brain he had is probably fried by now."

"Well, maybe we should, I dunno, do something to try to help. I like having a guinea pig for when there's a risk of getting arrested, thanks."

"But you can illusion people anyway... uh, nevermind. Let's see here. Ice packs." She looked around. The ice packs that she had used on Sikes were long warm. She went into the kitchen area and opened the freezer door. There were still several left. She took one.

Sending it into the room, she followed soon after. "Oi, Syndrome. I'm a little rusty with this," Selena groaned, realising what she had said a little too late. "You know what I mean." She shook her head.

"Hm? Oh. Force some liquids down his throat, if he starts drowning, I'm going to laugh."

She went back out into the kitchen, getting another glass of water. She came back, and said, "You're the one who can control him. I can't. YOU tell him to drink from this."

"Fine, spoil my fun," he replied with a grin. Using his alternate zero-point energy, he took control of Rylan.

"Rylan, drink this," he ordered, taking the glass from Selena. Rylan nodded slowly and complied.

Selena caught the ice pack as it slid off Rylan's head. When he was done drinking the water, he laid back down and she put the pack back on.

Selena attempted to lift Rylan off the ground. "Faaaaaaaaail," she muttered. He had only gotten about two inches up and then she dropped him, straining her mind a bit too much still. "I need to try lifting some weights," she snorted, "because he shouldn't be that impossible to carry."

Syndrome rolled his eyes and used his zero-point energy to move Rylan back to his room.

"Hey, it's his fault I can't do much anymore," Selena griped, catching Syndrome's mental eye roll.

"Whatever," he replied, and dropped Rylan carelessly on his bed.

"Oh shit, speaking of abilities," Selena realised that she still hadn't brought Basta into the equation yet. "I don't think I'll ever be able to read Basta out..." She shook her head. "I stumble over my own words, let alone someone else's! Besides, my powers aren't going to ever be full strength again..." She walked out of Rylan's room. Selena looked around. "Where DID that book go anyways?"

She turned to Sikes. "You had it last, last I remember. Where's my book?"

"I put that bloody book upstairs," Sikes said, uninterested.

Selena trudged up the stairs and envisioned the book coming towards her. She heard a sliding noise and looked around. It was at her feet. She picked it up and dusted it off.

Plopping herself on the couch, she began to skim through the book, trying to find where Basta came in.

When she finally found it, she read it to herself several times. The atmosphere was quiet, amazing seeing as both Syndrome and Sikes were awake and on the same floor. Then again, Syndrome's stomach still hadn't settled, and he was afraid he would probably throw up if he began speaking.

"Alright," She spoke to herself, putting the book down. "I think I'm finally ready..."

Selena started to read.

Selena saw what she presumed to be Basta standing right in front of her. "Oh, great," He said. "Not again."

Selena looked at him. "Yes, again. Sucks to be you, taken from a story that you were taken from a story... Now tell me, quick, before you knock over that thing of salt behind you, are you ready for some flames...?"

"FLAMES?!" Basta screamed. "ARE YOU NUTS? READ ME BACK!"

Selena looked taken aback.

"Who's that?" Cyrus asked, leaning on the banister.

"Basta, only, we've got a problem. I seem to have misunderstood the story a bit..."

Basta spit out a peppermint leaf and pulled out his knife. "Read me back, or I WILL kill you and find someone else who can," he threatened.

_Great, another Sikes._

"HEY! He's got a knife! Lemme see!" Cyrus squealed, and ran up the stairs.

"Hey, hey, you two, back away from me!" Selena shouted. "Basta. Look at me. How much did you hate it when that fool Meggie read Capricorn to death? At least a little bit, right? Now, I now know that you hate fire, but we plan on killing a whoooooooole bunch of people. I'm sure you want to be a part of it?"

"No way, kid," Basta spat. "I don't like killing as much as the others. You should've read one of THEM out, not me."

Selena groaned. "UGH, DAMMIT!"

Cyrus yanked Basta's knife out of his hands. "Yoink!" she said, then examined it. "Hey, this is pretty cool."

Basta jumped back about a mile. "GIVE ME THAT BACK, OR I'LL TAKE IT BACK AND SLIT YOUR THROAT," He roared. Selena grinned.

"You don't like killing that much, eh? OI, SYN…drome!"

Syndrome arrived on the second floor via rocket boots, since he was too lazy to climb the stairs at the time. "What?"

"Can't you see what?" She pointed at Basta. This caused Basta to take a step back and break the salt-container that Selena had put there to take control over him via his superstitions. He jumped about a mile in fear, picked up a lot of salt, and threw it over his left shoulder, most of it raining on Cyrus.

Cyrus picked some of the salt off her shirt and threw it at Basta. "Here, have it back!"

"So what's the problem here...?" Syndrome asked, attempting to ignore Cyrus.

"Cyrus has Basta's knife, Basta went all Sikes as far as threats go and now he's freaking out because of the salt." Selena said, pointing out the obvious.

"And I'm supposed to do what now?"

"Subdue him, somehow? Like Rylan did with you and Sikes?" Selena shrugged. Basta and Cyrus were having a salt match in the background.

"I guess that should be easy enough..." He pointed the alternate-zero-point energy at Basta.

"Now what?" Syndrome asked.

Basta looked subdued enough. Selena thought for a moment. "We need to find some place for him to stay... we're all out of rooms- and NO, I shall not be sleeping in the same room as anyone else."

"There's an attic, you know."

Selena turned around and looked at Cyrus. "There is?" She asked.

"Yup," Cyrus replied.

"Where? Can you show Basta there?" Selena asked.

"It's right there." Cyrus pointed to the door in the hallway.

"Oh, I always wondered... but Rylan kept that door locked?"

"Nothing a little lock-picking can't fix."

"Well, pick to your heart's delight, just as long as it's not your nose," Selena said.

Cyrus stuck Basta's knife in the keyhole and moved it around. The lock promptly broke and Cyrus opened the door.

"Three cheers for Cyrus," Selena said, when she suddenly heard a loud slam from downstairs. "What the hell was that?!" She cried.

She ran down the stairs to see the door leading outside slowly shutting, as if it had hit the wall near it and was coming back to shut itself. "SIKES!" Selena gasped.

_Guys, party's over. Sikes escaped._

Selena ran out of the house. She could've sworn she saw a dark figure in the night.

_COME ON, GUYS! We can't just let him off on his own!_

Cyrus ran down the stairs, closely followed by Syndrome.

Selena ran after him while she still could see him. He was headed the way they had gone on their first excursion, out to her mother's house.

As Selena chased after him, a small piece of her realized that she was still warm. She remembered that she hadn't changed back into her normal clothes yet- she was still Luna.

_SIKES_! She thought out miserably.

Syndrome subsequently realized that he had changed out of costume, which was probably a good thing.

_Where are you guys? _Selena thought to Cyrus and Syndrome. She was getting to be out of breath.

Cyrus poked Selena in the arm. "Right here."

She looked off to her side, continuing to run. "How can you be caught up to me?" Selena asked.

"Rocket boots!" Cyrus replied.

Selena took a better look.

Cyrus was wearing the same green sweater as always, but Syndrome's appearance had obviously changed. He was now wearing a black tee shirt and jeans, although still wearing the zero-point energy gauntlets (but not the gloves) and his rocket boots, which he was using to propel himself (and Cyrus, who he was carrying) forward.

Selena skidded to a stop. Sikes was long gone. Selena moaned slightly. "What do we do now?"

"..." Cyrus remained silent, and stared at Syndrome.

"What are you staring at me for?"

"You have rocket boots."

"He's long gone," Selena muttered to herself. She felt a little pained. "This is NOT good."

"But that is what Syn is for."

"He doesn't want to do it. I see it, I know," Selena shook her head. "But we can't just leave Sikes out there to die, to get arrested, anything... he's a part of the plan, too." She looked at Syndrome. "I'm always going to fangirl over Sikes. Whether or not you help is your choice. I can't say I blame you if you don't."

Syndrome took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said, wincing a little. "I will."

"Oh, thank youuu," Selena said, smiling a bit. "Now, what do we do...?"

"We find Sikes," Syndrome replied, confused.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. How?! He's been given a good 10 minute head-start, and he can run faster and longer than I ever could."

"Do I have to spell it out for you?! I. Have. Rocket. Boots. What part of that do you not understand?"

"YOU have rocket boots. I have a pair of shoes that are officially losing their soles," Selena grumbled. "Besides, we have no idea WHICH way he went!"

"I could... carry you, like Cyrus..." He started to blush a little.

"Not both of us at once," Selena said, ears turning bright red.

"Well..." he started.

"Hey, I have an idea! Syn, you could just carry me in zero-point energy! That would make things a lot easier."

Selena stared at Cyrus for a good minute.

"Um..." Selena trailed off. Which would be worse... free-flying and feeling like you were going to fall, or being held by Syndrome and feeling like he was going to drop you…?

"Well... whatever?" Selena said. She wasn't quite sure which would be worse.

"I CALL ZERO-POINT ENERGY!" Cyrus yelled.

The rest of Selena's face turned red. Well, looks like her choice was made for her.

Syndrome blinked. That left him to carry Selena. Something told him that Cyrus was planning something.

"Well..." Syndrome didn't have much to say.

"This is officially awkward, Cyrus," Selena griped.

"Shut up," Cyrus snapped.

Selena shut up.

_Wow. Touchy._

She rolled her shoulders a few times. "Alright. I'm ready… I guess."

Syndrome nodded. "I can't think of a less awkward way to say this... Where should I..." He trailed off.

"Um..." Selena thought for a moment. "Wherever you've... aw, man, that is an awkward thing to say... Let's get this over and done with... Wherever you've got the best grip-so I don't fall." She took out her rubber band so that she could let her hair cover her face.

Syndrome made a bit of a face. "Well, that would be around your stomach..."

"I'd rather be safe and violated than dead and, well, dead," Selena stated matter-of-factly.

Syndrome appeared angry. "Let's just get this over with," he snapped, and pulled Selena toward him, his arms around her stomach. After immobilizing Cyrus in the zero-point field, he growled "Get ready, then," at Selena.

_I'm ready. And by the way. This isn't my cup of tea either, Syndrome. No need to bite my fucking head off._

_I'm not mad because this is awkward. I'm mad because you insinuated that I would violate you._

Then the rockets activated, taking the trio just above the rooftops of Ravensburg.

_You DON'T feel violated? _

Syndrome remained silent.

_Damn, you're getting better at blocking your thoughts._

_I don't know if that was intended to be a compliment or not. He began to scan the streets for any sign of Sikes._

_Take it as one. Selena too looked for Sikes._

_Ugh, I wish I had glasses!_

Cyrus began to shout. "I see him! I see him!"

"WHAT?! WHERE?!" Selena shouted over the wind.

"RIGHT THERE! Move over here, Syn!" Syndrome flew over to where Cyrus was.

"He's in LILYPORT ALREADY?!" Selena shouted.

"Catch him with the zero-point, Syn!" Cyrus exclaimed, but Syndrome shook his head.

"I'd drop Selena."

_Thank you._

"Then toss me over there and freeze him then!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive!" Cyrus shouted.

Selena snorted.

_Only fools are positive, Cyrus._

_Are you sure?_

_I'm positive!_

_Well, there you go, then._

Syndrome directed her toward Sikes's area and let go, then made a few attempts at freezing Sikes.

Sikes was missed. "Dammit!" Selena cursed. "Come on, I know you can do better than that!"

"Well excuse me for trying not to drop you!" he replied.

He tried again.

Sikes stopped in the middle of the street, frozen.

_GET HIM OUT OF THERE!_

Syndrome moved Sikes into a nearby alley fairly quickly to stop Selena's mental screaming. Keeping Sikes frozen, he descended.

They reached the ground, and Selena almost fell over at first. She gained her land-legs back quickly, and she thanked Syndrome mentally, and then asked, "Where's Cyrus?"

"Right there," Syndrome replied, pointing to Cyrus.

She wobbled over to Cyrus and said, face still beet-red, "That was THE most AWKWARD thing you've ever made me do." She put her hair back up in a quick ponytail and then saw someone beyond Cyrus- two people who had come down the alley from the street.

"We saw you guys stop him from reaching that lady he was chasing! That man seemed pretty pissed off," One of the girls said. "Thank you."

The other girl smiled at them, but remained silent.

_Come on, you know you liked it... or not. But I'd like to think you liked it..._

_Shut UP, Cyrus..._

"It was no big deal. He's been on the run for some time, hasn't he, Sola?" Selena mentally nudged Cyrus and Syndrome to go along with it.

"Ah, yeah..." Cyrus didn't really know what to say.

"So, you're Sola," The girl persisted, looking at Cyrus. She looked at Selena. "What's your name?"

"Um... Luna..." Selena said, trailing off a bit.

"Who's the guy who looks like Syndrome?" the second girl said between gum chewing.

"Um... That's S-Spencer. My... brother. He likes to cosplay," Cyrus ad libbed.

_Nice save._

_Thank the guy on the bus, he gave me the idea. And Spencer is a paladin from a video game._

_A whatadim?_

_Paladin. People who walk around, upholding the law, general goody-two-shoes._

Selena snorted with laughter, however, she was able to pass it off as a violent sneeze. "Whoo. It's cold!" She added for good measure.

"Does his hair always stay like that, then?" The first girl asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, if you had that awesome of hair, you wouldn't want to take it out either."

_Sikes, when we get back, we are putting you on LOCKDOWN, _Selena mentally noted.

"Well, we should probably get him locked up," Selena said, with particular emphasis on the word locked. Sikes's face betrayed no emotion, but his adam's apple was seen moving as if he had just gulped a bit.

"You kids should be heading home. The streets aren't exactly very safe anymore."

"Thanks again, Luna, Sola, and Spencer," the first girl said. She walked back towards the street, and Selena breathed a sigh of relief. "Now we can just walk back without much trouble," She said.

"That sounds like a good idea..." Cyrus began to walk.

"Oh, and Syndrome," Selena remembered, "You have one fucking awesome 'prosthetic' arm. It looks NORMAL!"

Syndrome blinked. "I'm rich. I can afford that."

Selena looked at the alleyways. "Um... I have no idea which way to go..." She laughed nervously.

"Um." Cyrus stopped. "Let's go in a general... that way... direction."

Selena nodded. They started off, and she was at the end of the group, making sure nobody was watching from behind.

She muttered several threats and curses to Sikes on the way back. "You had NO idea what you were getting yourself into. The Runners are at least one-hundred times more effective than they were in your time, especially when the villain in question has no idea about most technology. You're lucky you didn't get killed."

Sikes did not say anything. Selena didn't know if he was capable and just didn't, or if his mouth was controlled too. She continued to trudge along, jumping at the slightest sound.

"Well, at least I've remembered how to drown people's minds out," Selena muttered.

"Unless somehow I lost the power again."

_Can you hear me now?_

_Hey, yeah! Whew. For a second there… ...Where are we NOW?_

_Beats the hell out of me._

Selena looked at the unfamiliar street.

_How are we going to get back if we don't even know where we ARE?_

_Have Syn look for us?_

_Sounds like a good idea._

"Oi." Selena poked Syndrome's arm. "Can you get a good look to see where we should go?"

Syndrome rolled his eyes. "Do I have to do everything..." He took off anyway.

_Seeing as you're the only one who can, yes._

Syndrome returned quickly. "Just around the block."

"What, Rylan's house is just around the block?!" Selena said, surprised.

"Apparently."

"Looks like your general directions are pretty precise, Cyrus... thanks again to both of you. And NO thanks to you, Sikes," She glared at him.

_You have no idea what you just put us through to save YOUR neck, Sikes._

Sikes grumbled mentally but still was silent. Soon, they reached the house.

Selena walked in front of the group, and didn't even bother to shout notice. She unlocked the door and it flung open.

Sikes was released into his room, which Selena shut the door and leaned against it. "This is going to be one long day," She muttered as she felt the banging against the door.


	16. Chapter 16

A few weeks had passed without much event- Sikes and Basta got along pretty well, making Syndrome hate the both of them, Selena always ending up the one to break up arguments- or, in some cases, even them out. Now, on a snowy and cold day in December...

"So, you used FIRE? Isn't that obvious to the Runners?"  

"He means cops, Basta, I think that's one word you're gonna need to know before long."  

"We WERE the cops. That and all of the others, the REAL ones, thought that we were just a folktale, that we didn't exist." Sikes and Basta were having a conversation on the best kind of murder, sitting in chairs surrounding the television. Selena had taken some liberties to make the place a bit more comfortable for six people, and she was now sitting out on the couch, making random interjections throughout the conversation, making sense of what the other said. She was surprised nothing major had broken out yet...

Syndrome was bored out of his mind. Even though he was genocidal, Basta and Sikes wouldn't let him in their conversation.

"Syndrome the redhaired villain was a very awesome guy... And if you ever saw him, you'd probably say "He can fly?!" All of the other villains used to laugh and call him names, they never let poor Syndrome join in any villain games. Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Selena came to say, 'Syndrome with ZPE so cool, won't you come pwn Sikes the fool?'"

_Syndrome, I can hear you..._

"That would be because I'm singing out loud. Then all the villains loved him as they shouted out with glee... 'Syndrome the redhaired villain, you'll go down in history...!'"

"Like The Ripper!" Selena interjected.

Syndrome grinned. "Close enough."

"Lemme guess, you were going for Hitler?" Selena asked.

"Noooooo," Syndrome replied. "I wasn't going to say anything because I can't find any homicidal maniacs I can relate to."

"There ain't never been a villain like you," Selena sang. She then smirked. Her Disney knowledge was growing quickly during this dull, cold season. It may be the longest nights of the year, but you can't ever do anything with them because they were SO COLD!

"There ain't never been a villain like meeeeeeee~!" Syndrome grinned.

Selena paused for a moment. "Know any other good villain songs?"

"Well..." Syndrome started.

_We could always piss off Sikes and start singing My Name without him._

Selena thought about the possibility for a moment. There was never a time that she didn't want to sing My Name, but...

_He's talking CALMLY to Basta, I think we should leave him be._

"Whatever," Syndrome replied, grinning. "You're no fun."

"Oh, I'm much worse than 'no fun.' I'm a fun killer," Selena said seriously. "and a 'Super,'" she did the little air quotes, "and stupid to boot. Which is why you need to reconsider yourself."

Syndrome snickered and began to inconspicuously whistle "Consider Yourself."

Selena sighed, and then sang, "Reconsider yourself..." She shook her head. "Nope. doesn't fit."

_Oh, and don't forget I'm still Jemmy-Happy's fangirl._

"Well... I'm reviewing the situation..."

Selena facepalmed. "How did I know... It's like I could read your mind!"

Syndrome blinked, then snickered some more.

"Once a villain, you're a villain till THE END!" Selena sang.

"Yeah..." Syndrome trailed off. "I realize I probably just ruined your reprise, but..."

"It's not like I could remember the rest anyway," Selena mumbled.

"Anyway, I've got plenty of reasons to like you, despite your obvious flaws. In fact, that's one of them."

"What, flaws? They'll be the death of me," Selena said. "That and I'm SIXTEEN. You're, what? Twenty eight?"

"Twenty three! Sikes is twenty eight."

"Erm, right," Selena shook her head. "It's still a big difference! What is it, eight years?" She did the math in her head. "No, it's seven. But STILL!"

"Smaller than the difference between you and Sikes," Syndrome retorted.

"God, it feels like I've been sixteen forever," Selena muttered.

"When's your birthday?" Syndrome asked. "I don't remember you mentioning it..."

"December 13th, but what does it matter? Oh, and I'm dirtier in more ways than you're thinking of, too," Selena said, still trying to persuade Syndrome away from her. "I don't get a good wash anymore... once a month, not counting rain-showers. That's why my hair is the way it is. AND! I'm pretty damned poor..."

"Selena," Syndrome went on as though she hadn't said anything past December 13th, "you're not sixteen."

"Yes I am!?" Selena said, confused.

"No you're not. December 13th is TODAY."

"How could you know? We don't have a good calendar around here anymore..." Selena stared at Syndrome. "Oh, I get it. You're trying to make it seem even less. 6 years is still quite a bit!"

"No, really, look on the TV. Some of the channels have the date."

Selena looked at the television. Sure enough. The thirteenth of December. "Well, would you look at that. It's Friday, my birthday, and December all in one fell swoop. Oh, man. I wish I could mess with someone today... Friday the Thirteenth?!"

"Better than Monday the twenty-third... ugh, that's coming up, isn't it?"

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"Twenty-three happens to be a very unlucky number for me, with December being my worst month in general and my least favorite day of the week being Monday. So, naturally, this year they all happen at the same time when I'm twenty-three years old. Go figure."

"Murphy WAS an optimist," Selena said. She had always heard that from her father when she was a child and something went terribly wrong... she shook the thought from her mind.

"I don't think I'm getting out of bed Monday after next."

"Hmm... can't say I blame you," Selena did a double take. "Wait, why are you telling me this?" She shuddered.

"I'm warning you that if... um... I can't make this sound very good any way I try, can I...? I'm just saying, don't plan to burn the Miss Universe pageant on the twenty-third."

"The pageant isn't on the twenty-third, you doof. It's AFTER Christmas," Selena said, throwing the couch pillow at Syndrome.

He stopped it with zero-point energy, and threw it back at her. "...I knew that..."

Selena caught it before it hit her face, and she sent it zooming back with her telekinesis. "Sure you did."

Syndrome ducked, allowing it to fly behind him toward Basta and Sikes.

It hit Sikes squarely on the head. "What the BLOODY HELL was that for?! WHO DID IT?!"

Selena pointed at Syndrome, scared out of her wits.

_Gee, thanks, _Syndrome thought with an eye-roll.

"Should've figured it was big-head!" Sikes growled, flashlight at the ready.

"Hey, hey, hey, BACK OFF, SIKES." Selena took the light from his hand and pushed him away. "He didn't mean nothing, if he had wanted to harm you he WOULD have done." She glanced off at Syndrome and then Basta and then back to Sikes. "Go back to what you were doing!" She stood still and quiet... and then Sikes went back.

She wiped her brow and sat back down.

_Be prepared! _Selena sang in her mind.

"Back on the original topic..." Syndrome started. "You still owe me. Remember the card thing?"

"Yeah... you didn't help TOO much, but... I do owe you..." Selena muttered.

_That and helping me find Sikes, _she thought to herself.

"See? I'm right. And-" he began to declare, "as I recall, two out of three of the things you mentioned before were also issues faced by two certain characters in this book here." He waved his Harry Potter book in her face.

Selena's face lost all smirks, all giggles, all EMOTION at that moment. "Lupin and Tonks are QUITE different."

"I realize that..." Syndrome replied. "I just said they had two similarities to this specific situation. Two."

"Out of how many, may I ask?"

"Hm... Eight or nine, I believe... something like that."

"Two out of eight or nine doesn't qualify as a passing grade in my book," Selena muttered, turning her back to Syndrome. Some way to spend her birthday. Syndrome trying to convince Selena to go out with him wasn't exactly how she planned the first day of being seventeen. But then again, she had 'planned' it so long ago…

Syndrome bit his lip. It was a wild goose chase, but hey, maybe it would be fun trying.

"I'm most certainly NOT what you're looking for, Syndrome. You just haven't gotten out of the house enough."

"You don't know that," he grumbled. "I've seen plenty of people. And I know what I'm looking for."

"Really...?" Selena remarked sarcastically. "You're looking for a Super, then, huh?"

"Doesn't matter. If it means I'd finally be worthy of at least one Super's attention..."

"Someone who's younger... all men seem to be looking for that nowadays... but anyway. What happens when I have to read you back?" Selena pointed out. "The day will come..."

"Then I'll be happy I got to spend time with you at all," he replied.

"And what about my... hygiene? You don't care that I smell like a pile of dog dung?"

"...It'd be nice if your hygiene was better, but..."

"It's not like I have control over it. We live in a crowded house full of guys and I'd rather not get caught in the shower. My house- well, shack- doesn't even HAVE one," she muttered. "Um. What else did I say- Oh, right. How can you put up with my stupidity? Don't you want to talk to someone like you?"

"Cyrus's house has a shower, you could ask her... and you're smarter than you think you are. Think- you haven't gone to school for... what, eleven, twelve years? And yet you're probably smarter than Cyrus."

"Something like that- You're getting me off subject!" Selena complained. "I'm far from the perfect villain," Selena said. "And I sure as hell am not a hero, either."

"I was a wannabe hero until recently... but genocide pretty much cancels it out."

"Yeah... there's another one! You were trying to be a hero! I've been a villain for all but a few years of my life."

"But the things that made you a villain were less severe... you've never committed genocide, so I'd say we're about even."

"Not yet. I'm pretty sure what we're planning counts as attempted genocide- which, may I add, makes it sound like I tried to kill myself instead of trying to kill off an entire type of people?"

"..." Syndrome apparently had no response to this.

"But that's attempted suicide. Anyway..." _What else, Selena, what else can you pull out of your ass?_

_If she's so determined to turn you away, why do you keep trying? She's clearly not at all interested..._

Selena paled, and was silent. She shouldn't have heard that.

Syndrome frowned and turned away.

Selena sat back in her chair a bit and bit her lip.

"What else do you have against me?" he asked bitterly.

"Uh...Actually... I can't think of anything else," Selena muttered, loud enough to be heard.

"Great. So now what?" he spat.

"Hell if I know," Selena said. She shifted in her seat, and then got up, knocking her black coat to the ground. Hearing the muffled tune of the music box that she had left in her coat pocket, she rushed to her coat so she could shut it.

Syndrome snorted. "Why do I bother?" he asked to anyone who would answer.

"Whaddya mean by that remark?" Selena quoted. She slapped herself mentally for quoting Sikes.

"Why have I bothered with trying so hard to get you to like me, when it's clear you never will? Why do I keep trying, despite the fact that you reject me at every turn? Why do I bother?"

"Because..." Selena trailed off. She rubbed her eyes.

Selena's pale face turned deep red as she remembered the fight at the store, the flight to find Sikes... "Because... I dunno why. I don't even know why you like me. I don't get it." She picked up her coat and put it on and then sat back down.

"I do. It's something called unconditional love-no matter what someone does, no matter what they say... you'll always love them. It's the sappiest thing on the planet, and I've been afflicted by it."

Selena felt a cold chill rush through her body, even though she was wearing her coat. She blinked several times, obviously speechless.

"Now if you'll excuse me..." he grumbled, and walked off toward his room.

"Wait-" Selena caught herself standing up.

_Selena, don't just let him up and leave! _a loud voice screamed from inside her. It was just as loud as when she had been controlled by Rylan- the voice, that is.

He stopped. "What?" he snapped, spinning around.

_SAY IT, YOU DUMBASS!_

"Uh-" Selena sighed. "Nevermind. I'm just being stupid me. Stupid, STUPID me."

"What were you going to say?" he demanded.

Selena started to see black. She looked down, her knees were locked. She bent them and started to feel a bit better. "Well..."

Syndrome looked at her expectantly.

"Can a villain really feel that?"

_SAY YOU LIKE HIM, SELENA._

"Of course villains can feel that. Just because you're a villain doesn't mean you're immune to that kind of emotion... of course, being a villain makes it WAY more annoying, though."

Selena nodded. "Well... I... I dunno. I was always taught that any emotion, besides hate, was going to be my downfall…" She looked up at Syndrome.

_You like Syndrome, just admit it, Selena._

"I feel so stupid..." She sighed. "Are you SURE this isn't Cyrus's doing again, or something? Buddy taking over unexpectedly?"

"If it was, I wouldn't feel so horribly embarrassed to say it."

"I'm sorry that you have to go through that..." Trailing off, she felt her mind slip back... back to the moment she flew up in the sky, that flying, soaring, feeling... but what she didn't realize was that she was broadcasting it house-wide. Sikes and Basta both jumped a moment before returning to their discussion, dismissing it as 'that freak girl's fault.' Selena looked in surprise at the two and turned even more red than before.

"Well, now that that's been accidentally said and done, I'm going to go hang myself now," Selena mumbled, tears in her eyes.

"What?!" Syndrome exclaimed. "No-!"

Selena took off her coat and summoned a rope, and ran down the stairs. She would use the bar hanging off the sill of the wood-covered window. It would be quick, easy, and virtually painless. And Syndrome, Sikes, and Basta would all be returned to their respective stories and forget about the creep-telepathic.

"NO!" Syndrome yelled, and flew down the stairs.

"I'm not good enough for my mother, I'm a freak. I'm not good enough for the other villains, I FEEL. And I'm TOO good for you that you don't even realize what I AM!" Selena screamed. She went for the door.

Syndrome stopped her with zero-point energy. "It doesn't matter what other people think of you. It doesn't matter if you're not up to their standards. There will always, ALWAYS be someone out there who cares for you."

She felt the control over her body disappear.

"Just think of how much absolute pain you'd put that person in if you died."

"There's bound to be some fanboy out there..." Selena mumbled, remembering. She still fought a bit. "You wouldn't be in pain. You'd be back in your world, you wouldn't even remember of a strange girl named Selena."

"Then my life wouldn't be worth living either," he retorted.

Selena let go of the rope.

"Will you please put me down?" Selena asked, as collectedly as possible.

Syndrome released her from the zero-point field.

She fell a foot or so and then turned around. She ran up to him and gave him a large hug as she sobbed her apologies. "I'm so stupid..."

Syndrome smiled a bit. "But I love you anyway. Funny how things work like that." He paused. "You were saying something...?"

"I love you, Syndrome," She sobbed into his chest.

He looked almost hurt. "You're joking, aren't you...? Because this is not funny..."

"If it sounds like I'm laughing, then you've never heard someone cry before," Selena wiped her eyes and looked up at him.

"I didn't think you were laughing, I just..." he paused. "I didn't think you'd..."

"I fought it. I should've still fought it..." Selena shook her head, still red-faced. "I'm a villain, Goddammit! But I can't anymore." She squeezed Syndrome as tightly as her weak muscles would allow.

Syndrome looked up. "Do you know how long I've waited to hear those four simple words...? Twenty-three years. Never once have I heard it before..." He hugged her back, fairly tightly.

"I think three would've sufficed," Selena cry-laughed. "Three words, that is."

"No," he replied. "I've heard them before. But I've never heard anyone direct them toward me!" He grinned.

Selena snorted with laughter, getting a noseful of salty water in the process. She coughed for a short time, and then said, "For your information, sniffing tears? Not a very pleasant process," she said, really just trying to make herself laugh, if anything.

"I can imagine," he replied with a snicker. "Well... now that that's done and over with... what are we supposed to do? All Mirage ever did was stand around and spend my money..."

"Be smart-asses to each other?" Selena shrugged. "Dani might have suggestions, but I don't plan on listening to certain ones any time soon... She's already got her one wish."

"Sounds fine to me," Syndrome replied.

Rylan, who was better now (no thanks to anyone there), entered and saw a VERY awkward scene to walk in on.

"…"

Selena heard a voice- or was it a thought? She jumped away from Syndrome when she saw Rylan standing there.

"And what might YOU TWO be doing?"

"Uh-" Selena started.

_I'm tempted to say 'It's not what it seems!'_ Selena laughed mentally. Although, let it be noted it was quite nervous laughter.

_But the problem is, it sort of IS what it seems._

"What does it matter to you, anyway?" Selena asked grumpily. "You missed most of what happened, go back to bed!"

"Well, I think I might! I'll just pick myself up and- oh, what's this? Heavens! I'm BOLTED TO THE WALL!" Rylan yelled.

"What the hell?" Selena asked, looking back and forth between Syndrome and Rylan.

"I think someone has been watching too much Youtube," Syndrome said. "He's quoting Forte, the pipe organ from the second Beauty and the Beast."

"Forte- is that supposed to be a music joke or something?" Selena asked, slightly off topic.

Rylan nodded. "And he and I are eerily similar."

"How are you and an animated organ at all alike?" Selena smirked.

"When we use our hypnotic abilities, our eyes turn green. The only real difference is that he uses music and I don't."

"Music is much better to be hypnotized by," Selena spat.

"Really? Should I just start singing all the time then? Because I will! Don't doubt me!"

"Hell no, then you'd be like Kaa, too!" Selena said. "And now I don't like Kaa one bit."

"At least I'm not a snake. And I'm not going to try to eat you. Apparently that's Syndrome's job." He barely finished before bursting into hysterics, literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Selena raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then realized what Rylan was getting at. Her face changed to shock, and she was struck silent.

Syndrome stared at Rylan and looked at him as though he had turned into a catfish.

"Maybe, just to pay you back, I SHOULD let him devour me," Selena said, trying to come back from such an unexpected outburst. "Erm... okay, that one sucked," She made a face and added, "Not like that!" She just needed to shut up.

Rylan laughed all the harder. "I CAN'T-HAAAAHAHAHA BREATHE! GAHAHAHAHA-"

"What's so funny about it, anyway?" Selena did not shut up, despite her complete embarrassment. Her red face didn't teach her anything.

Rylan was having problems breathing, and couldn't answer.

"Do you think this is serious?" She asked Syndrome, looking down at Rylan.

"...What?" Syndrome asked. "You did make some pretty... 'off' statements, but they weren't THAT funny..."

"Did he inhale too much laughing gas or something? He IS kinda necessary, as we've said before..."

"I just think he hasn't had anything to laugh at for a while and he's REALLY needed to laugh."

"Hm, power of humor..." She grinned. "I guess I'm good for something."

"You're a comic relief villain! Hey! Join the club!" Syndrome replied with sarcastic enthusiasm. "WHOO! I was invented to die! Yay me!"

"Funny thing is? You're still alive!"

"I was originally a disposable villain who was doomed to die in a GAS MAIN EXPLOSION! YAY COMIC RELIEF VILLAINS!"

"A gas main?" Selena asked. "I thought the turbine got to you? Erm. No offense."

"Yeah, I was watching the deleted scenes, and the villain was originally this guy named Xerek, and I was a disposable villain at the start who died, but apparently the creators liked me more than him, and well, here we are. And let's face it. No amount of genius is getting me out of a gas main explosion."

"No sir," Selena said. "Thank you, Pixar."

"Indeed."

Rylan had calmed down and was standing up.

"So, now that you're... sane again," Selena started, "answer my question."

"What question?"

"Don't play stupid."

"Whatever. I meant I'm not going to eat you like Kaa, but I'm leaving it to Syndrome to do the face-eating."

Selena made a face. "I knew THAT... Ugh, I'm making things worse for myself."

"I made a pun, that's why I find it so funny."

"He must be Comic Relief, too," Selena said under her breath. "Only failed."

"What was that?" he growled.

"That was me being stupid like normal, that's what that was..." Selena said, fear rising up.

"THAT is what I THOUGHT," he said, raising his voice.

Selena backed up a bit.

"Now then... Since Selena so desperately wants me to use music instead, I'd like one of you to be a... test subject, per say." Rylan grinned sinisterly.

Selena backed off even more, running into the hallway wall.

Syndrome stepped toward Rylan. "I will."

"Are you nuts?" Selena asked. "You know what happened LAST time he tried to control you!"

"But this time I won't be fighting back."

Selena shook her head and then crossed her fingers.

Still, Syndrome retained a rather defensive stance as Rylan circled him.

"It's easier to run..." Syndrome's defensiveness was quickly replaced by panic.

"Replacing this pain with something numb, it's so much easier to go than face all this pain here all alone..." Syndrome felt his stomach seem to freeze over. What had he gotten into...?


	17. Chapter 17

Selena watched the two closely. If ANYTHING went amiss, she had to be ready.

Rylan continued circling and singing, and Syndrome gradually slipped into a trance. The song apparently ended, as Rylan had stopped singing. He stopped circling in front of Syndrome.

With one thin finger, he tapped Syndrome lightly on the neck. Syndrome's eyes snapped shut and he collapsed, having fallen into a deep sleep.

"What in blazes have you done?!" Selena walked toward Rylan, a glare on her face.

Rylan shushed her, grinning widely. "He's sleeping..."

"NOTHING can wake him except YOU, if he really is asleep!" Selena shouted. "Every villain placed in this house has a purpose, you've tested this, now wake him up!"

Rylan pondered this for a moment. "I don't really feel like it, sorry."

Selena glowered at him and then clenched a fist, wrapping mental fingers around Rylan's neck. "Do you feel like it yet? Or do I have to make you squawk?"

Rylan's eyes began to take on a familiar glow. "Do I have to sing for you too?" he barely managed to say.

Selena closed her eyes, but envisioned choking Rylan a bit more. "You won't be singing tonight!"

"Alright, I'll wake him! Just put me down!" he cried.

"Do I have your word?"

"Yes."

Selena let him go. "Not that your word's any good anyway."

Rylan stepped up to her and pulled on her hair, forcing her to make eye contact. His eyes were green.

"Precisely. My word is not worth a penny."

"Fuck-" She stopped. She felt another scream rise up in her.

_You know he's controlling you again, this ALWAYS happens!_

"You are going to let me sing, understood?"

_NO, SELENA. JUST SAY NO, COME ON!_

She fought it- her head was not nodding, nor was it shaking no. It was going in full circle.

"Come on, Selena... You know you can't hold out much longer."

_Selena! He can't hold on much longer!_

But her head stopped its rotation and slowly started to nod.

"Thank you," he said quietly with a grin. "Now. Suggestions?"

She shook her head no.

"Fair enough..." He cleared his throat.

"When this began, I had nothing to say, and I get lost in the nothingness inside of me..."

Selena shuddered.

"I was confused, and I let it all out to find that I'm not the only person with these things in mind... Inside of me- But all the vacancy the words revealed is the only real thing that I've got left to feel... Nothing to lose, just stuck-hollow and alone, and the fault is my own, and the fault is my own..."

Selena tried to fight the music... but it was too much.

"I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real, I wanna let go of the pain I've held so long... Erase all the pain till it's gone... I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real, I wanna find something I've wanted all along, somewhere I belong..."

Selena stood there, just as frozen as Syndrome had been.

Rylan stopped. "Doesn't it feel nice to be like this? You don't have to worry about anything..."

A tiny little voice appeared out of nowhere. _Stay awake…_

Selena didn't notice. Nothing was going through her mind at all...

"Answer me."

She nodded.

"Good. You and Syndrome can wake up, then..."

Selena snapped back to her senses.

"You NEVER do that again," Selena said, growling at Rylan.

Syndrome was still lying on the floor.

"What?" She looked at the still-sleeping Syndrome. "Why the HELL hasn't he woken up?"

"I honestly have no idea," Rylan replied.

"None of that bullshit, Rylan, what have you done to him?!"

"I don't KNOW!" Rylan roared. "I told him to wake, I have no IDEA why he hasn't!"

"Damn you, Rylan!"

Selena closed her eyes and tried searching Syndrome's mind.

_I HAZ U NAO, STOOPID MR. INCREDIBLE! HAHAHAHAHA!!!_

Selena groaned. This was some serious deja vu.

_Wait... what...? What's going on...?_

_You finally awake?_

_Who is that? Selena? And no... I'm not. I don't want to wake up yet._

_Oh, sorry. I thought Rylan still had you..._

_No, I'm not controlled anymore. I'm just really tired... I dunno why, but I've been really tired a lot lately, and I don't want to get up now that I'm this deeply asleep..._

_How are you talking to me, then? I mean, you're speaking normally._

_That's because not all my dreams are like that. This is more lucid..._

_...that means you're... more aware that you're dreaming, right? Lucid?_

_You're not as stupid as you think you are._

_I just took a guess. You're speaking normal English and basically telling me that you know you're dreaming. So, lucid must mean in this case that you're aware._

_Well, you're a good guesser then._

_Well, hey. Thanks. _Selena smirked a bit.

_Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to sleeping, but on my bed would be nice. So. If you're feeling up to it, try your telekinesis._ _If not, borrow my left zero-point energy gauntlet and use that._

Selena attempted to lift Syndrome up off the ground. She got him higher than she would have a few weeks ago, but she felt her strength fading quickly. She lowered him down and took the gauntlet.

_Uh. How do you use this thing...?_

_Okay, look inside it, see the two wires that aren't connected, and the little rectangle next to them? Point it at me and move the rectangle over the wires._

Selena pointed and then moved the rectangle. She dared not move her arm any more yet.

_How touchy is it? I'm feeling quite shaky._

_Shaking shouldn't matter... it's not very precise. After all, shaking's a human reaction..._

Nodding, she moved her arm up a bit. Syndrome followed. She attempted to manoeuvre him around a few obsticles, and then pointed up a little higher so that she could take him up the stairs. If she hadn't been wearing the gauntlet it would've seemed easier, but taken more strength... with the gauntlet, she was not using any energy but keeping her arm up.

_Almost there._

_Thank you._

She had reached the foot of the stairs. She heard the television still going... she took Syndrome to his room and put him on his bed, staying just outside the door.

_Good night._

Syndrome did not respond.

Selena backed off, and then went into her room, where she herself fell asleep promptly.

---

"_No... not again..."_

_Syndrome was back downstairs, and Sikes and Selena were arguing yet again..._

_He hated recurring nightmares, but he hated this one the most._

_He could never understand what they were saying, but it always ended the same way..._

_Syndrome looked down and picked up the oh-so-familiar shard of glass._

_"No, don't!" a different Selena shouted out. "I'm not dead! I'm here!"_

_Syndrome stopped dead in his tracks. What was going on...?_

_Selena moved towards her own body, apparently dead. "I'm right here."_

"_What?!" Syndrome was utterly confused._

_Selena shook her head. She walked up to Syndrome, blinking off the visualization of herself being dead._

_"Whoo-hoo. Right here. Gotta say, this is some pretty freaky and realistic shit."_

_She waved her hand in front of Syndrome's face._

_"..." He took a shuddering breath and hugged her tightly._

_Selena should've felt a tight hug, but, as she was dreaming, she did not. Her heart flew a bit, but no real physical feeling came from the nightmare. "Hmm... I always used to feel in dreams. Of course, that might've been my coat stabbing me." She hugged Syndrome back. "I'm alive and weird, just like before."_

_"You can't imagine what it's like to have to go through this all the time... I always wake up crying. It's really frustrating..."_

_"I should say so. One hell of a nightmare. Of course, you don't want to see what some of mine are like." Selena shook her head. "No, sir." She let go of Syndrome, backed away a bit, and stared at his right arm. Still looked just as real. She sighed in relief._

_"It's just... It's such a relief that you're actually alive this time..." He took a few shaky breaths._

_"Well, I am but I'm not. If that makes any sense. The Selena that you started the dream with is dead, but she's... an illusion, if you will..."_

_"I realize that..."_

_"Good." She looked at him and then took a seat on a dream-chair. Sikes was still standing behind Syndrome, but it was like Sikes was one of those automated thrill ride robots. He hadn't moved, or even appeared to breathe._

_"Still..." Syndrome paused. "You don't know how hard it is to keep from killing him..." He jabbed a thumb in Sikes' direction._

_"I... don't. But he's just an illusion too. He's an automated person... a dream-person..."_

_"But... even though he isn't real... I still want to kill him for how many times he's done it..."_

_Selena snorted at that statement, and then checked herself. "I'd prefer not to have the image of him dead too. I love you, but I'm still a fangirl and you know it. It's bad enough with the image of him hanging himself from the book. Just like it's bad when I see that turbine take you in and then..." She trailed off._

_"Well, yes. I realize that you still like him... and I only said I wanted to kill him, not that I was..."_

_Selena shook her head. "I know I'm anal about the dream-death thing. I'm sorry..."_

_"It's fine... I'm really just happy you're alive- WAIT."_

_He paused to hit himself over the head._

_"What the fuck?" Selena burst out. "What the hell was that about?"_

_"I realized that I had just quoted Mr. Incredible..."_

_Selena blinked, and then laughed. "Wow. That's, um... "_

"_It doesn't happen very often, that's why I don't have a concussion right now."_

_Selena laughed even more._

_"It looks like you could've gotten a concussion with only one hit, though!" Selena giggled. "You hit yourself so hard- erm... you know what I meant..."_

_"But I'm dreaming," he said, holding up a finger as though it proved his 'point.' "So I can't get a concussion."_

_"You have a point," Selena said._

_"I do," he said with a laugh._

_Selena stood up from the chair. "Plus the point here..." She reached on her tippy toes to point at the tip of Syndrome's hair._

_"I have a lot of points," he replied._

_Selena had an unnecessary mental picture. "Okay, that one took it too far."_

_Syndrome turned red. "You know what I mean."_

_"And what you didn't mean, too," Selena shuddered._

_"Sorry."_

_"I'll get over it," Selena said._

_"Anyway..."_

_"So... we're stuck in an odd dreamland," Selena muttered. "I see dead me and robot-Sikes..."_

_"I'd prefer not to come out yet, I'm still tired..."_

_Selena nodded. "Yeah, join the club. I've been keeping you and Sikes out of arguments, I tried to resist Rylan's controlling glare, and I almost passed out trying to lift you up with telepathy."_

_"Well... the second one... I could... well..."_

_"You could, well, what?"_

_"I could help at least a little bit if you let me use my alternate zero-point on you."_

_"Not right now, obviously..." Selena pointed out. "We ARE still asleep."_

_"Well, not now, but later... I could help you build a resistance to his power."_

_"Sounds like a plan. How about... the twenty third?" Selena snickered. "Naw, just trying to mess with you. Whenever works." _

_"Anything works for me... hey, consider it my birthday present to you."_

_"Ugh, I had one screwy birthday," She shook her head. "I still think that you were making it up..."_

_"Well, at least the twenty-third isn't going to be a living hell for you, and it's in ten days..."_

_"There's got to be at least ONE thing right with the twenty-third."_

_"Like what?"_

_"I dunno, two times three is six and that's how many villains we've got with us?"_

_Selena shrugged._

_"Whatever," he said with a grin._

_"I'll try to figure out some way to keep hell from taking you early...I've got ten days."_

_"Well then, we should probably start building your resistance to Rylan's abilities sooner, because I have a feeling that if I die, it'll be because of him."_

_"As soon as we wake up, then," Selena said._

_Syndrome nodded._

_Suddenly, realization struck Selena, and she burst out in laughter._

_"Oh, that is so WRONG and funny at the same time," she grinned._

_He similarly smiled._

_She looked over at Syndrome. "What're you smirking at? You have no idea of what I just thought of?!"_

_"No, I don't, but smiles are contagious... or something."_

_"...Promise me you won't groan."_

_"Fine."_

_"This is sooooooo wrong, but... this brings a whole new spin on 'sleeping together,'" Selena snorted._

_Syndrome blinked twice then burst into hysterics._

_Selena was giggling quite uncontrollably._

_She calmed herself down enough to say, "Syndrome, you creeper, you're sleeping with a seventeen year old!" And then she was laughing again._

_Syndrome's laughter broke off suddenly. "Don't call me that."_

_"Irk-" Selena stopped. "Sorry, broke the rule of funny."_

_Syndrome frowned._

_"I'm sorry," Selena said._

_"...sure."_

_"Looks like it's time for me to go. I've ruined your dream."_

_"No, don't! Please. It'll probably pick back up where it left off then."_

_Things were starting to fade a bit. "Doesn't look like I have much choice in the matter..."_

_"Well... it was nice while it lasted..."_

_"And then I went and ruined it," She said, trying to focus her eyes so she could stay..._

_"It's fine... just don't call me a creeper."_

_She attempted to give him one last hug. She had just wrapped her arms around him..._

When she woke up.

---

The dream world went dark, and Syndrome then realized that if he opened his eyes, he'd wake. But he didn't want to... not for another minute or so. So he pulled the covers over his head and waited approximately a minute. He then sighed and got out of bed.

Selena rose. What time was it? Was it daylight? Was it still her birthday? Or had it passed already?

She left her room and went and sat on the real circle of chairs, where she wiped her eyes a bit and then laid down on the couch.

Selena summoned a small breakfast bar to eat from downstairs.

Syndrome went toward the living room and was almost hit by an incoming breakfast bar.

"Whoop, sorry Syndrome," She caught the flying food and then opened the wrapper. "It's an IFB," Syndrome said as he entered. "Identified Flying Breakfast."

"Actually, I'm not quite sure what kind this is..." She nibbled the bar. "Oh, it's a strawberry fruit-and-grain!" She scarfed it down.

"Look, I'm sorry about... you know..."

"It's fine," he replied.

"Are you still up for helping me…?" Selena asked, wiping her mouth and then 'tossing' the wrapper in to the rubbish bin quite a distance away.

"Of course."

"Can we start now?"

Syndrome nodded briefly.

"Get ready, then... if you're not already."

"I am red-aaay," Selena snorted.

Syndrome gave her a strange look. "Okay then..." He triggered the alternate zero-point energy.

Selena felt taken over almost instantly.

"Selena?" he asked cautiously.

Selena stared at him. Her face was blank.

"...Can you hear me?"

Selena nodded.

"Okay... now. I imagine you know exactly what it feels like to be controlled by Rylan..."

Selena nodded again.

"So start imagining that it's happening, okay?"

Selena envisioned the night prior. Rylan had taken over...

"And then, just as he's about to bring down your will, something starts helping you fight him. What is the something?"

"I hear a voice yelling at me to stay up... I wish I had more help than that..."

"So keep imagining... and even with the added reinforcement, you're still falling under his control, when suddenly something stops him dead in his tracks. What is it?"

"You and Sikes and Cyrus," Selena stated.

"Okay, so then what happens?"

"You all form a wall between me and Rylan..."

"And?"

"And I can't see him any more..."

"Okay... now just remember to try visualizing that when he tries to take over, and I think it should help. You can probably even ask for help mentally, seeing as how you're a telepath and all. You can snap out of it now."

Selena did. She shuddered for a moment and then sat herself back down.

"Thanks…"

"Do you think it helped?" Syndrome asked, uncertain.

"I don't know. I hope it does," Selena muttered.

"Me too," Syndrome said.


	18. Chapter 18

The redhaired female villain leaned on the doorway. "So what's happening...?"

Selena jumped about a mile and turned to face the doorway. "Oh, it's just you- no offense." She scratched her head. "I thought you were Rylan again."

"Why?"

"He, uh, felt rather controlling recently," Selena said. "I had to be sure he wasn't coming back to finish me off or something..."

"So. Why exactly are you and Syndrome... in the same room together?"

"What, is it legal now or something?" Selena asked. "I'll leave if it is."

"No, it's just that it was you two... alone... in the same room..."

Selena's eye twitched. "That's just WRONG, girl."

She made a face at the mental picture. "No, he was teaching me-" she stopped and attempted to correct herself, "He was... oh, there's nothing better- he was teaching me to fight control. And not in the Solar-plexis Instep Nose Groin sort of way." She shook her head. "I just need to shut up, that sounded even worse."

"I didn't understand half of what you just said, but is the Almighty right?"

"The Almighty?" Selena asked.

"The Almighty..." Cyrus struck a pose. "..."

"Doesn't strike a chord with me." Selena said, still confused.

"Well, let me ask then... Are you and Syndrome... an... eep! CANON PAIRING?!?!" Cyrus squealed.

Selena facepalmed and turned red.

"ARE YOU?!" Cyrus screamed.

"The Almighty, I get it now... Word Of God..." She muttered, trying to sidestep the question.

"Our story is on . And it says you're a canon pairing now. ARE YOU?!"

"You're more worried about the pairing than the suicide attempt. Well... that's nice to know..." She shook her head.

"Synlena is my OTP," Cyrus replied. "I am more worried about the pairing than anything."

"You have GOT to be the craziest fangirl I have EVER met. Thought you liked being a part of Cydrome?" Selena asked.

_Is there any way to get out of this?_

"Changed my mind. It was an artificial relationship."

_Any way to confuse her enough to stop asking?_

_Not that I know of._

_Damn…_

"Yes," Selena said sarcastically, "we both LOVE each other." And then her voice changed. "In all seriousness, yeah. It's true."

Cyrus turned bright pink and fainted.

"Dum dum dum... another one bites the dust," Selena half-sang.

"So, we had a laughing fit, and then a fainter. Neither seem really... rational. And if Sikes finds out..." Selena's eyes widened. She remembered the dream. "If Sikes finds out, we'd better hope that he doesn't get anywhere close to me."

"He had better not..."

"It's good he has no idea what the Internet is. If he did... Oh man." Selena paled.

She bent her knees to avoid fainting.

Selena changed the subject. "So, today we should probably get the layout of the building worked out. Rylan still has no clue about the plan, which seems to be fine and dandy by me. So... how exactly do you plan on getting the information?"

"Probably camera... I dunno..." Syndrome mumbled.

"Are you feeling okay? You better not be coming down with that crap that Sikes and Rylan had," Selena said.

"I dunno, I feel... off." He made a face. "Not sick, but... I have no idea..."

Selena frowned. "Are you sure?" Selena came up to him and felt his forehead.

"I feel fine," he insisted. "I'm not sick. I'm just tired."

She looked at him. "I don't feel any more tired than normal... Well, I always feel tired though nowadays, I don't think that counts. You're sure you're fine? Or are you trying... something...?" She twitched for a moment, smirked, and then said, "You wouldn't do THAT. You were offended-" Selena started, and then warned, "this is going to sound off- last night... Damn, that sounded really off, forget I ever said-" and then she yawned. "Anything."

"See? Not sick. You're tired too. It's..." He cut off. "I don't know..."

"How can YOU of all people not know? You're a supergenius!"

"Because I'm too fucking tired to think," he replied. "It's difficult to make any clear thoughts, okay? Now I think I was going to say it's probably Rylan's fault..."

"Excuse me, Syn-drone!" Selena spat, angered.

Syndrome looked half hurt, half angry. "What the hell did I do?"

Selena shook her head, trying to come back to reality. "Hell if I remember," She growled.

Syndrome frowned. "I dunno. I'm pretty sure it's Rylan's fault..."

"Hee- heeheeheehee! Isn't everything his fault?"

Syndrome gave Selena a genuine "WTF" look. "Isn't someone moody today."

Selena nodded with vigor. "Yup!"

"Selena... you're..." Syndrome leaned on a nearby chair for support. "starting to scare me..."

"Speaking of scary- heeheehee- are you going to 'sleep' with me again?" Selena put little air quotation marks around the word. "Last night was fun! Well, for me anyway. You looked pretty damn scared at first. Hee, that makes it sound even worse, HAHAHA!" Selena was only half aware that she had already reached stage four of sleep deprivation... and that half didn't really care.

"...what...?" Syndrome was barely aware of what Selena was saying. His grip tightened on the chair.

"WHAT?! AREN'T YOU LISTENING?!" Selena roared.

_Stage Five,_ a little voice said.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU YELLING AT ME FOR?!" Syndrome yelled. "YOU'RE THE ONE who's..." He dropped off and collapsed.

Selena's knees gave in.

_Holy hell, I'm tired._

Syndrome's breathing deepened as he fell asleep-again.

_Sorry..._

And Selena was out.

---

Syndrome barely managed to open his eyes. He found himself staring at the ceiling on his bed-wait, wasn't he just in the living room?

Selena opened her eyes, aware that she was awake, and rubbed them. She sat up and looked around. "Wh- where'd Syndrome get off to?"

_Syndrome, where are you?_

_Who is that? I'm in my room..._

_It's Selena, you dolt. Are you alright?_

_Selena… _His thought seemed almost malicious._ What's it matter to you?_

Selena jumped up to her feet.

_What does it MATTER? I told you before, I DO care!_

_Why? I DON'T. All that matters to me is doing as I'm told by... it doesn't matter who... so leave me alone._

Selena was taken aback.

_Doing as you're told by...? _She bit her lip.

_Why does it matter? It's none of your business!_

Selena thought no more to Syndrome. Instead, her anger flared up and she walked quickly to Syndrome's door and opened it.

Syndrome, still lying on his bed, turned. "What the hell do you want?!" he yelled.

"This was all a ruse, huh?! 'Let's see how much we can get Selena to hurt!'" She yelled in a mocking voice. "Well guess what?! YOU REACHED THE POINT OF NO RETURN!" She pulled Syndrome out from the sheets and up into the air, not by the neck, however.

"Fine! If it matters so much, I'll tell you! I'm serving Rylan! Happy?!"

"Not enough," She growled.

_Selena!_

"You don't need to think to me, just say what you need!" She roared.

"I wasn't!" Syndrome snarled.

_This is not me!_

_Don't you DARE play tricks with me!_

_Selena...! Please... Rylan... help me..._

The desperate pleas for help died off.

Selena closed her eyes and attempted to break into Syndrome's mind.

"What the hell-?!" he exclaimed before involuntarily opening to Selena.

_Selena burst in, frantically searching for the "Subconscious " door. She had been in here enough, it should be easy to find..._

_(THERE IT IS!)_

_There was pounding on the closed door marked "Subconscious."_

_"SOMEONE GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" a yell could be heard coming from behind the door._

_Selena fiddled with the doorknob for a moment and then said, "Back up!" She gave three seconds time and then opened the door._

_Once the door opened, Syndrome went bursting out, pounding on an unmarked door. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, RYLAN, GET OUT!" he roared._

_Buddy was left to explain._

_"Rylan locked us both in here... and I was only able to send out a few distress signals before he overrode us... He would've, but he was too angry... he just said 'you do that, I'll get us out of here.' Which he failed to do."_

_"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Syndrome yelled._

_"No need to fight amongst yourselves right now!" Selena exclaimed, going up to Syndrome. "Need any help?"_

_"Any and all help would be appreciated, thanks."_

_He began to attempt to bash the door in with his shoulder. "Join in any time."_

_Selena looked at the door, and then pulled a pin out of her pocket. "This might help," she said. "Lemme give it a try." She attempted to pick the lock on the door._

_The lock clicked._

_"Stand aside..." Syndrome said, and opened the door._

_He took the opportunity to charge at Rylan and tackle him to the ground. Syndrome proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him._

_"GO SYN!" Selena screamed wildly. "You can take him!"_

_Rylan began to cough up blood, and Syndrome lifted Rylan with zero-point energy._

_"Why the hell are you in here?" Syndrome asked._

_Rylan remained silent._

_"I asked you WHY YOU'RE IN HERE!" Syndrome shouted, and threw Rylan across the room._

_Selena jumped out of the way. She dusted herself off and smirked. _

_Rylan, in obvious pain, gasped and replied, "I thought I... could get cooperation from you..." He smirked and took on a sarcastic tone. "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for that meddling girl!"_

_"Hey, I'm no hero," Selena said, readying her fists._

_"I'm leaving! Just let me go..." He tried to stand._

_Selena was ready for anything. Last time he had said something he didn't mean it… why should he have changed?_

_As he attempted to walk out, Syndrome picked him up again with zero-point energy, and threw him out into the center near the door labeled "subconscious."_

_Rylan was pulled in for a moment and then thrown out again, looking rather worse for the wear._

_Rylan managed to stand up again and staggered out. He was gone._

_Syndrome grinned widely and almost hugged Selena when he realized she was already being glomped by his counterpart._

_"Damn, guys. One at a time!" Selena laughed._

_"Thanks for being suspicious enough to come in," Buddy said._

_"He says he'll follow Rylan's orders, anyone who knows him should be suspicious."_

_Syndrome nodded. "For once, I agree with him. Being locked in there was hell…"_

_"And today wasn't even the twenty third."_

_"That's because not even on the twenty-third do I end up locked in my subconscious with my idiot softie other personality."_

_Buddy glared. "You tried to knock down the door while I did something productive, how am I an idiot? You're the idiot, and you're a hot-tempered jackass!"_

_"Hey, hey, calm down, folks. Um. Well, maybe I should go."_

_"And! I'm not a softie, I'm just not self-centered like SOMEONE- oh, sorry, bye."_

_Syndrome shot Buddy a death glare and waved at Selena._

Selena opened her eyes and saw Syndrome still floating.

"OH SHIT!" She lowered him down.

"..." He sighed and hugged her as tightly as he could. "Thank you."

Selena turned bright red and muttered something.

"Selena... if I EVER say I don't love you, you should be extremely suspicious..."

_Not in here, Syn._

She tried to get out of Syndrome's grasp.

"No offense, but…"

He let go.

She summoned a lemon from the refridgerator downstairs and it zoomed up to them. "Something crazy could have happened."

"Like what?"

"Like something that shares a name with this fruit," She said, letting the lemon hover.

Syndrome stared for a moment before recoiling. "AUGH, GROSS! No! You're WAY too young, seriously! At least for that!"

"A year from eighteen, but what does that matter to someone who doesn't abide by the law?" Selena pointed out, and then said, "Don't get any ideas. That's why I made you let go of me. Anywhere else it would've been fine... but in a room- no. Just... no."

"I didn't mean legally. I meant by one of the few morals I have."

"Heh, thank God for certain morals."

"Indeed..." He stopped. "You know, really you should be thanking Buddy, he's the one with morals."

"Let's skidaddle," Selena said, getting out of the room.

Syndrome left as well.

"Now that we're out of there..." Selena hugged him, shutting the door so that they wouldn't go in to the room. "I'm glad you still care."

"There was never a moment that I didn't."

"What about during that time that you were illusioned by Cyrus? OR-" Selena said, gasping, "-What about when I first read you here?"

"When I was illusioned by Cyrus, that was Buddy, not me. I was just sitting around in the subconscious. And not quite when you first read me here, but after the Christmas lights bit... I started to feel like maybe we weren't as different as I thought, and it just grew from there..."

"So, technically," Selena snorted, "You just lied there, but hey. We're villains. Gotta do what we've gotta do."

"Hey, you have to give me some credit, I didn't say anything for what, nine chapters?"

"Something like that," Selena grinned.

"And how long did you have to hold it in, one point five, maybe?" He smirked.

"Shut it...It's not exactly like you made it easy."

"And yet here we are," he replied.

"We should probably let go before Cyrus comes in screaming."

"Wait a minute, I have one more question, what was it that finally set you off?"

"Finally? Like, when I felt ANYTHING, or when I knew that I had finally lost it?" Selena snorted.

"Both." He grinned.

"Well, um... When I saw the Incredibles, that really set it off... your explanation of your life made me sympathetic. And then, oh man. When we were flying..." She smiled at the memory. "It was awkward, but..."

_But the awkwardness didn't really matter, because nothing did..._

"Anyway. First actual feeling was when you let me stay with you and Cyrus, after being thrown out, and then helping me."

"Well then... We should probably find that building and figure out the layout, huh?" He grinned.

"I know that right now they've been working on the Community Theatre in Main Lotus so that it will be able to hold so many people... So obviously they're going to be testing systems and that sort of thing. We're going to need to have it checked out twice- once for the basics, and the second time really close to the actual event for any last-minute changes," Selena said.

"I could just release a camera into there, it could project video feed back to here."

"What happens if it's found?"

"I'll modify it so it has defense mechanisms."

Selena thought for a moment. "Just so long as one of those is NOT self-destruct," She said. "Too many villains think that is a necessary precaution, you know."

"Self-destruct is not a necessary precaution. Why the hell would I want that when I can just make it shoot spikes into the palm of anyone who catches it?"

"Hey, that sounds good!" Selena said.

"That's why I thought of it," he replied.

"Nice to know your ego's back too."

"Of course, it's a mandatory bonus." He grinned. "I don't come without it."

"Eh, I can deal," Selena grinned too. "If you can take something this demented," She looked down at herself, "then I can most certainly deal with an ego the size of your head from your chin to the tip of your hair." She giggled a bit.

"Gee, thanks," he said, smirking. "It's not like I don't get enough big-head jokes, I get almost as many as Dib."

"Sorry," muttered Selena.

"No, it's fine," Syndrome replied with a snicker. "I'm used to it. It's like the fat kid who laughs at fat jokes."

Selena laughed, squeezed him in a tight hug, and then let go.

"You know, my stomach still goes "WHEE" every time you do that," Syndrome said with a grin.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," said Selena, under her breath.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nevermind," Selena said. "Off to LCT, then?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"If you see anyone there that looks like Sikes, don't kill them. They were epically amazing at portraying Bill Sikes in a musical," She added.

"Right. I wouldn't do that, anyway. Much as I want to kill Sikes, you're a fangirl... and I wouldn't do that to you. Unless he kills you. Then all bets are off."

Swallowing, Selena said, "If I die, all of you are going back to your original stories. There's no way that-" Suddenly, she heard a door open from behind them. Basta was standing in the doorway leading up to the attic. Selena backed up to the wall.

"Excuse me," he growled slightly, caressing his knife as he passed.

Selena finished in a whisper, "There's no way that the rest of you guys will be staying here. It's by my power, as much as I hate to admit it."

Syndrome sighed deeply. "Don't let yourself get killed by Sikes, then..."

Selena kissed Syndrome on the cheek. "Don't worry." She then went out down the hall and into the living room. Sitting down in a chair, she jumped when the door leading downstairs opened- it was Sikes.

"Girl, you seen that hell-raiser anywhere?"

"What, the one with the knife?" She asked.

"Yes, him."

"I thought he went downstairs?"

Sikes cursed and turned around, going back down the stairs.

Selena wiped her brow.

_Holy shit, that was fucking close._

_Tell me about it._

_He still thinks I'm Nancy, _She thought after a quick check of Sikes's mind.

_That could be severely bad..._

_It's not good anymore, I can tell you that. If he had come from a different part of the book... well. He wouldn't be as keen to kill me._

_Of course, because no murderous raving lunatic has ever wanted to kill their girlfriend,_

Syndrome replied sarcastically.

_Technically, she's his prostitute, but, you know._ _It's just another bomb waiting to go off with the fact that she 'betrayed' him._

_Right. Anyway._

Selena's thoughts ran to her dream-dead body. She shuddered.

_Anyway. Why haven't you left yet? Don't you know how to get there?_

_I'm from a different universe, of course not._

Selena facepalmed again. "Of course not," she muttered to herself. _I'm not very good at giving directions..._

_Couldn't we just go then? Leave it there? Come back? Something like that?_

_Okay..._

Selena summoned a piece of paper and a pencil.

_"Cyrus-_

_Out looking at Universe Plan. Be back later._

_-Selena"_

She stuck the paper on Cyrus's forehead.

_Is that good enough?_

"Should be," Syndrome said aloud, and began to leave.

"Hey, wait up!"


	19. Chapter 19

Selena ran out the front door, trying to catch up with Syndrome.

He halted and waited for Selena. "Preferred mode of travel?" he asked.

"Um. Well, heh~" She laughed nervously, "Anything goes?" She looked down longingly at his boots.

"I'll take that as 'flying.'" He chuckled.

Selena grinned.

"So, since it wasn't that bad the last time apparently... Where... damn, this is still awkward."

She snorted and said, "You shouldn't have to ask. Still prefer not to be Pancake!Selena. Or Selena-splat."

"Well then..." He didn't really know what else to say.

Selena shook her head. "My stomach, remember?"

"I know that." He snorted. "Anyway..."

He held her around the stomach as he had before.

"For now, just go straight south..." Selena said. "Once we get there, we'll probably have to walk. How many people like seeing a UFO nowadays?"

"Right," he replied, and his boots began to spark before the flames kicked in, lifting them not too far above the buildings.

Selena's stomach at first seemed to stay behind on the ground, but she soon got used to flying again. It was brilliant not needing to worry about Sikes this time.

_Guess I need to thank Cyrus when we get back, huh?_

_I think she'd appreciate it._

_I was so scared last time... at first, anyway, but then I got so used to it... It's no wonder you invented these._

_Makes chasing Mr. Incredible easier, that's for sure._ _I accidentally threw him into a river once when I was trying to kill him._

_And, obviously he survived._

_Unfortunately._

Selena sighed and rolled her eyes.

_The heroes always win.. well, not this time, suckahs._

_I think this is the edge of Ravensburg..._

_Damn,_ Selena thought to herself.

_Alright. Now, to find the uptown district...just follow the light pollution, I suppose._

_Shouldn't I land first? _he thought, amused.

_We haven't landed? Oops._

Syndrome touched ground and let go of Selena.

Selena wobbled, and then brought herself to her knees so that she wouldn't pass out. "Sorry, um, still haven't gotten good at sticking the landing yet."

She stood up and dusted herself off. "Right." She pulled off the rubberband on her wrist and put her hair up. The cold wind- wait, cold wind? She hadn't noticed that while flying- battered her face.

"So... which way was it again?" he asked sheepishly.

"Just follow me. I remember a bit better now... 'cept for the fact that it's the wrong season..." Selena muttered, putting her gloved hands up to her face to warm it for a moment. She started off, looking at the sky to find the brightest area and turning at random intervals.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" he asked, not far behind.

"Erm, well…" Selena trailed off. She thought about it and spoke again. "Kinda. It's been too long. We need to get uptown, it's clearly marked on several signs where to turn once you get there."

Syndrome had no response to this.

They continued to trudge along, and after a few more twists and turns, they came out of a dark alley onto a very well lit street- there was a Hardee's, several locally owned grocery stores, and a post office, along with many houses. Next to one house, there was a sign that stated "Lotus City Theatre" and pointed to the right.

"Would you look at that? I told you I'd find a way to get here."

"I didn't say I doubted you-wait, yes I did. Never mind."

They turned right and continued to follow the signs, until they came across a building with many cars parked in the lot. On the lawn, there was a sign that stated "Performance Tonight at 7:30!" Selena groaned.

"Go figure, right?" Syndrome frowned.

"I didn't think they had any more shows until Universe was done! They JUST finally got the place big enough... You'd think they wouldn't have enough time to practise on stage with the set and lighting and props-" She cut herself off. The side doors opened, and many costumed people came rushing out, trying to get in the front lobby before the audience could get out. "Hey, it's just ended!"

"Lucky us. That means we could probably release the camera backstage, assuming no one's there anymore..."

"Oh, believe me, I'm sure the techies and stage hands are still there. Hmm... can it find its own way around?" Selena asked. "Because if we release it from that door, it could get around to backstage pretty easily."

She pointed to the door where the assumed cast of the production had poured out.

"You obviously didn't see the entire movie," he replied. "In other words, yes, it can find its own way around."

"Obviously," Selena muttered. "I caught it when you found the Incredibles on the island. All four of them, together, in matching Supersuits."

"Right. Okay then. So. You know more about this than me. Where should I go?"

She grabbed him by the arm and said, "Just go along with me," They walked up to the front doors, and went inside. "You did a really great job up there. But, can you tell me, is there a bathroom anywhere? I couldn't find one during intermission," Selena asked to one of the costumed cast.

"Thanks, and there's one just down there, down those steps and behind the displays. Off to the left is the women's, and the right is men's," The lady replied. She didn't notice that they had come in from the outside- bonus! Selena tightened her grip around Syndrome's left arm and made their way through the crowd.

_Go up those steps and just let it go somewhere in a corner or something!_

She let go of him and went down to the bathroom door.

Syndrome went up the steps and found a vent-probably the most convenient thing he could've found. He made sure no one was watching, and slipped it inside the vent.

He came back down and met back with Selena.

"Five... four... three... two... one... okay, let's go."

She grabbed at his arm again, muttered an apology for her tight grip, and then they went around the display and through the crowd again. "Thanks," Selena said to the lady.

They left through the front doors.

Once a good distance away from the theatre, Selena started grumbling. "I don't care if it's a good way to be undetected, I HATE crowds..."

Syndrome also muttered something angrily, albeit very quietly.

"What was that?"

"...I said, 'And I hate Rylan, but I have to deal with him every day.'"

"So do I," Selena said, a little confused. "Everyone hates Rylan, you know that. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing," he replied abruptly. "Never mind."

They walked to the alleys in silence, and then Selena broke it. "I think we could start from here, right? Make it a bit easier on the return trip?" She paused. "Unless you don't want to."

Syndrome wrapped his arms around her stomach and prepared for takeoff without a sound.

---

Syndrome glanced at his coffee. After all that, he had gone back to regular. In reality, he was glancing at what used to be his coffee. The cup was empty.

He sighed heavily and made a mental note to make some more within the hour. Speaking of which, it was eleven.

Already?

He went back to his invention doodles.

He lifted up his papers momentarily and looked at an unfinished sketch of Selena, then covered it again.

"What's that you're working on?" Selena asked groggily. She had just gotten up for a middle of the day drink of water.

"Invention stuff," he replied after jumping a bit.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" She asked, and then heard a crash that sounded like glass shattering. "SHIT!" Her glass for water must have run into a wall or something- she needed to remember to NEVER use her powers when she was half awake.

"I'll get it, I need to make more coffee anyway."

"Syndrome, are you off the decaf again?!" Selena asked.

He frowned. "Yeah."

She groaned. "You know, sleep IS good for you. You won't always have those nightmares." She went down the stairs.

"You don't know that," he muttered.

"Think about something else before you go to sleep, then!" She said, putting all of the glass into a garbage bin and then summoning a mop to clean up the water.

"That doesn't help. Hasn't helped for seventeen years, anyway."

"You haven't had that nightmare for seventeen years, Syndrome. I seem to remember you having a dream _just_ recently that Mr. Incredible was having an identity crisis."

"It wasn't that nightmare in particular, no. But I've had nightmares five days per week since I was six, each worse than the last. And I don't even know when the normal dreams will show up, and they're usually not worth it. So I try not to sleep so I don't risk it..."

Selena looked at him. "Did Rylan help at all last time?"

"Usually he makes them worse... plus... never mind."

"Besides the fact that we all hate Rylan, yeah, I guess I do remember you having that nightmare the same night... or is it day-mare the same day? Ugh, never mind. The point is, there's got to be some way for you to get some sleep! It's not good for you to be up all the time. All of that caffeine has got to be doing something bad too... I've heard that caffeine gives you nightmares too." She rambled, still half asleep.

"That wasn't it. Anyway, I don't want to go to sleep. And as you'll recall, the last time I had a coffee crash, it was the identity crisis one. So that's not exactly true."

Selena got a new glass from the cupboard and filled it up, and then chugged the whole thing.

"Well, then, all the more reason for a crash right now!"

"No. I'm not going to sleep."

"Fine then, I'm getting Rylan."

His eyes widened. "No... you wouldn't..."

"I would. You need sleep," Selena started, "and I won't be able to sleep until I know you're resting that brain of yours."

"Listen," he replied, "I can't let you get him. I don't actually hate him as much as he terrifies me."

"And what might you two be doing up?" came a voice from the hall. "It's late and I was planning on sleeping." Syndrome froze.

Selena's eyes widened. "Wait, what?" She asked Syndrome under her breath as Rylan came out of his room.

"I am as afraid of Rylan as I am of sleeping," he replied quietly as Rylan entered.

"You're as afraid of me as you are of what now?" Rylan asked with a smirk.

_Shit._

"As afraid of you as he is of money," Selena said, looking at Rylan with a glare. "Obviously, he's not very afraid of you."

"Really? I could've sworn I heard him say 'sleeping.' Is our resident supergenius afraid of a little nap?" he said mockingly.

"No he's not, and don't you dare think it!" Selena said in an accidental semi-quote.

"I think he is," Rylan replied, grinning threateningly in Syndrome's face.

"I'm going back upstairs," Syndrome started, looking for an escape.

"Sounds like a good idea," Selena nodded. "I'm done with my mid-day drink."

"Great!" Rylan exclaimed. "I'll join you."

"O...okay..." Syndrome stuttered.

_Don't show your fear, Syndrome!_

The three climbed the staircase.

_That's a lot more difficult than you'd think..._

_Do it as if he was going to kill you if you showed fear! He won't, but just- _Selena stopped for a moment_. Just do it._

Syndrome remained silent.

Rylan smirked. It was much easier to intimidate him now that he knew that Syndrome feared him-if he so much as twitched, Syndrome would flinch ever so slightly.

Too easy.

"You jerk," Selena growled, hearing Rylan's thoughts.

Rylan grinned arrogantly.

Syndrome stopped.

"I don't want to go to sleep, Selena. I'm not going to."

"I think I get it, Syndrome," Selena said. "You know what, you DON'T have to," she growled in Rylan's general direction.

Rylan raised an eyebrow. "Hm? Don't tell me you think I intend to stop frightening him..."

"If you even TRY to put him to sleep, so help me God, I will go psychotic."

"Why? Don't you want him to overcome such an irrational fear?" Rylan replied, grinning.

"YOU putting him to sleep won't overcome it!" Selena said, raising her voice.

"Then what will?" Rylan asked complacently.

"Not you!"

"Other than 'not me.'"

"I... dunno, what would help, Syndrome?" Selena asked.

Syndrome remained completely quiet.

_Come on, help me out a bit so I can help you..._

_..._

Selena frowned. "You've put him under your control already, HAVEN'T YOU?!"

Rylan scoffed. "No."

_...He hasn't._ _I just really don't know what to say._

"Well?" Rylan queried with another grin. "No one seems to be able to come up with anything that doesn't involve me."

Syndrome miserably failed at suppressing an involuntary shudder.

Selena glowered at Rylan. "Don't you dare-"

"There don't seem to be any other solutions."

"He seems to be getting along fine without them!"

"Then why did you decide you needed to interfere?" Syndrome asked.

_BECAUSE THERE'S GOT TO BE ANOTHER WAY! I didn't know Rylan scared you! And truth be told, Rylan's a pain in the ass anyway!_

_Rylan himself doesn't scare me. It's his abilities._

_That makes it even worse!_

Selena bit her lip, and then put on the angriest face she could make while fighting tears. "It's not NECESSARY ANYMORE!"

"On the contrary, I think this is the time when it would most come in handy. I could remove his fear with minimal resistance."

"Hell if you would! You'd just make him even MORE afraid!" Selena shouted.

A door slammed. Syndrome had locked himself in his room.

"There, he'll go to sleep by himself now!" Selena said.

_You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you?_

_What do you want? Do you want him to totally re-wire you and have yourself end up like you did when he took control of you after we both conked out last time? Willing to do anything for him? Wait for his command?_

_No. I just want you two to leave me the fuck alone. It's not your problem, I don't expect you to have to deal with it. I don't want any more nightmares. You don't know how bad they get._

_How bad do they get?_

_I've seen all kinds of other ways things could've gone wrong. I've died. I've actually felt the cuts as I died, like I could have. I've been crushed by my former idol. Literally._

_Oh my God. There's got to be some way... Some way for the dreams to stop, for you to be able to sleep again._

_If there is a way, I haven't been able to find it for seventeen years._

Suddenly a thought crossed Selena's mind.

_Cyrus. Cyrus could do it! She could illusion you, get rid of your nightmares, couldn't she?_

_No._ _She can only alter the senses._

_And dreams are subconscious... Ugh, can't anythi- wait. Subconscious. Do you think, maybe, there's something in THERE that might be causing the problem? Something I could remove?_

_I have no idea._

"Rylan, don't you dare try anything. I've got an idea," Selena said.

She closed her eyes and searched for Syndrome's mind. Third time was the charm?

_Selena quickly located the subconscious door and opened it. "Hi there, Buddy," she mumbled as she shut the door so he couldn't escape. _

_He waved. "What brings you here?"_

"_Syndrome's nightmares, actually."_

_"Ohhh..." He made a face._

"_Is that the dream section of Syndrome's subconscious over there?" Selena asked, pointing to a door with a crescent moon painted on it._

_"Yeah, but you're only supposed to go in there when he's asleep... See, his brain's like a computer. So when he goes to sleep, you have to start up the program in there... but you can't alter it, it's already programmed in. Try to alter it, and it rewrites the entire hard drive-in other words, erases pretty much everything. Personality, memories... EVERYTHING."_

_Selena paled._

_"There is one way to alter it... but obviously you don't have any mind control abilities..."_

_She then moaned. "Oh, man. Rylan."_

_"And that's why we've decided to just live with it for so long. When Syndrome in there-" he pointed out the door- "gets sick of waiting around trying to think of stuff, he just shuts the place down. And then, whee! He conks out in the middle of whatever he's doing. If you wanted to get him to go to sleep... you'd have to ask Syndrome over in the conscious. But altering dreams? I can't do that. I don't have that authority."_

"_Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN IT!" Selena shrieked._

_"Now... I dunno if he has the authority, you could ask, but I personally don't. You try something like that without a key? Blanks the whole damn thing. And he might have the key, might not. Go ask."_

"_Key, right, gotcha," Selena said. She left the room. "Syndrome?" She called out. "You there?"_

_"Hey, Selena," he replied. "What do you need?"_

"_A key, apparently. For your dreams."_

_"Oh. Well. I have -a- key, but I can't alter the dreams. I can reduce the number of times they appear, but I can't change them."_

"_Well, why haven't you done that before?!" Selena asked. "Everyone has nightmares every once in a while."_

_"Because I was told expressly not to."_

"_Who told you not to?"_

_"The...err... higher-ups. You can't get to them. They decide what becomes traumatic, what sticks in the memory, what doesn't, stuff like that. I, personally, am not supposed to alter the information. Now you..." He held out the key. "I was never told anything about not giving the key to visitors."_

_Selena's eyes gleamed. "There we go. Bypassing the higher-ups using a loophole... that's the way to think, Syndrome!" She took the key._

_"I do love loopholes," he replied. "Just don't set it below one per week, lest you want things to get very, very ugly."_

"_How ugly is very, very ugly, roughly?" Selena asked, intrigued._

_"Like... the higher-ups take control down here and stuff Buddy and I in a closet somewhere, and basically make 'Syndrome', meaning the main person, completely emotionless, force him to lose his personality and memories, and so on. So unless you want to have a robot boyfriend... put it to one per week."_

_Selena gave Syndrome a hug and said, "Sleep is going to become a friend." She then rushed off to the Subconscious room._

_"I see you're back," Buddy said._

"_Yes I am, with a key obtained through a loophole." Selena grinned. She rushed off to the Dream door._

_"Hey, wait!" _

"_What?"_

_"You can't go in there yet."_

_Dawning realization struck Selena's face. "He's not asleep yet."_

_"Right."_

"_Buddy, do NOTHING with this key until I come back." She tossed the key to him and then opened her eyes._

Selena blinked several times before feeling somewhat normal. "Rylan, we need you to put him to sleep- only to sleep. That's IT," she stressed.

Rylan grinned. "I told you it couldn't happen without me."

"How about a nice big cup of shut the fuck up? If he'd just go to sleep like any other normal person, we wouldn't need you."

"But he doesn't. Now how do I get in there?"

"I pick a lock or two."

"I'll open the damn door! Don't pick my lock! Jeez..." The lock clicked.

Selena grinned. "I knew you'd say that."

"Of course you did. You're a telepath. It's like your job."

"Like, oh my god!" Selena said in an annoying Valley-girl voice. "It's like, he like, speaks like me!"

"Note that there were NO COMMAS IN MY SENTENCE," Syndrome yelled through the still-closed door.

Selena smirked and opened the door.

Rylan entered and Syndrome backed up slightly.

Selena followed. "Rylan, ONLY sleep. ONLY."

"I know," Rylan replied. "Sit down, Syndrome."

Syndrome sat on his bed.

"Now then..." His eyes began to glow, but Syndrome looked away.

Rylan snorted. "Look at me."

"Syndrome, please..." Selena said.

Syndrome took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to Rylan.

"Go to sleep..."

Syndrome collapsed onto his bed.

"There. Done. Happy?"

"That's good, thanks," Selena said.

She closed her eyes and was in his mind again.

_She ran to the Subconscious door, opened it, shut it, and then held her hand out expectantly to Buddy._

_"What do you want?" He chuckled. "Just kidding." He handed her the key._

"_Don't kid with me like that, Buddy," She said, taking the key and running to the Dream Room door. She wanted to make sure that whatever nightmare he was having right now would be the last for a good week._

_Buddy followed. "I have to turn it on first, you know." He did just that. "Quick, put in the key before it starts up fully."_

_Selena put the key in the computer. The computer recognized the key and brought up the options menu. "Options," She read on the main screen. "I suppose I want to go over here to 'frequency,' right?"_

_"That would be correct," Buddy replied._

_She moved the mouse over to the frequency slider. She clicked and moved it to 'one per week.'_

"_Is that all?"_

_"And click save, and remove the key."_

_Selena clicked on the giant S for save._

_Selena waited for the "Saving, please do not turn off the power..." screen to disappear. It did, and said, "It is now safe to remove the key" in orange letters against a black background. Selena shuddered for a moment and removed the key._

_"And that's all there is to it, but you may want to return that. Oh, and nightmares? Not today." He pointed to the screen._

"_Wow, this thing shows his dreams?" Selena said, turning to face the screen again._

_The screen pictured something that didn't look as good as Buddy said- it showed a trial._

_"Call in Syndrome, this is one of his favorites."_

"_What?"_

_"You heard. If you want to watch, I'll pause, go lay down and come back ASAP."_

_She ran to the door, opened it, and called out, "Syndrome! Apparently this is one of your favorites!"_

_"Oh, it's the trial? Cool! That one hasn't come around for a year or so! Oh, and I need that key back. Can't start up the main computer without it."_

"_Here you go, see ya soon!" Selena said, giving the key over and then opening her eyes._

Selena rubbed her eyes and said, "I'm going back to bed." She then went into the hallway and found the door to her room. She plopped herself on her bed, shut the door telekinetically, and quickly fell to sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

_She realized she was back in Syndrome's mind. "Hey, it worked!"_

"_You know, usually I end up IN the dream, not viewing it like this!" She said, walking up to Syndrome and Buddy._

_"It's more fun this way," Syndrome replied with a mouth full of popcorn. "You just watch, don't get killed or nothing."_

"_Yeah, that's awesome!" She stole some popcorn from the bowl._

_Syndrome pulled the bowl closer and turned away. "Get your own," he replied. "Snack bar is over there." He pointed to what looked like a snack shop at a theater. "We have candy."_

"_Damn, this is just too good!" Selena grinned. "Wait, I don't have to pay or nothing, right?"_

_"It's my fuckin brain!" Syndrome exclaimed. "In other words, no."_

"_That's what I hoped." She ran over to the snack bar, took some peanut M&Ms and a bag of freshly popped, very buttery popcorn, and walked back a bit more carefully. She opened the bag of M&M's and poured it into the popcorn. "NOM NOM NOM!" She exclaimed._

_Buddy laughed, since his mouth wasn't full at the time, and Syndrome had a minor choking fit on his popcorn._

"_Oh, jeez! Are you okay, Syndrome?"_

_He began to laugh once the popcorn was out. "I'm fine," he replied._

_"Ready?" Buddy asked._

"_Yes!"_

_Buddy hit Play on a remote, and the paused picture began to move._

It began with a trial.

The sound of the gavel banging rang through the small-ish room.

"_This isn't going to be an accurate trial, since it's a dream," Buddy stated._

"_Well, duh," Selena said, munching on her popcorn/M&M mix._

The dream-Syndrome's lawyer began to speak. "Your Honor, my client was, in fact, doing this world a favor. Even with the recent exploits of the "Incredibles," the anti-Super laws haven't been abolished. Therefore, what my client was doing was ridding the world of these freaks."

_Selena choked on a piece of an M&M. _

_"It doesn't mean you," Syndrome added. "It means the freaks who feel a need to obsessively save people, not just people with powers."_

_She spat the piece of candy back onto her tongue and then chewed it more carefully this time._

"The defense rests."

"I do not believe that there is really anything more to be said… Incredibles, for performing heroics in public, you are ALL sentenced to three years of house arrest. Mr. Pine, you get off with nothing. And you are also allowed the privilege to punch Mr. Rick Dicker in the face."

"Can I right now?"

"Yes."

The dream-Syndrome stood up, walked over to Rick Dicker and yelled, "THIS IS FOR FREEZING ALL OF MY FUCKIN ASSETS, AND TAKING AWAY MY ISLAND!" And he punched Rick Dicker in the face, which sent him flying out the window.

"_Go me!" shouted Syndrome from the couch._

"_Wheeee~" Selena added sound effects._

The dream-Syndrome flew back to Nomanisan, after much more Rick Dicker punching.

There he found Mirage, miserably failing at keeping the place together.

He snuck up on her and hit her over the head with a two-by-four, then put her in the same containment unit he had used for Mr. Incredible.

"Why did you betray me?" he yelled.

"Because I'm only in it for the money and I wanted to piss off Elastigirl and I totally have the hots for Mr. Incredible!" she screamed.

_Selena burst out laughing._

"_That's your ex-girlfriend? Holy hell!"_

"WRONG ANSWER!" Dream-Syndrome roared, and turned up the voltage until Mirage was nothing more than a blackened crisp.

"The correct answer was 'Because I'm only in it for the money and I wanted to piss off Elastigirl and I totally have the hots for Mr. Incredible AND because I'm a stupid bitch!''

"_I'm a stupid bitch," Selena muttered to herself._

_"But you don't spend my money and you don't have the hots for my rival-wait. You don't spend my money." _

"_See...?" She groaned. "I'm closer than you think. The moment I ask for a hamburger for lunch will be the moment I'm Mirage..." She looked at the screen. "All black and crispy."_

_"No, you'll never be Mirage, because you aren't THAT stupid. And you aren't a girly-girl. And you don't have the hots for a hero. And you want to set girly-girls and heroes on fire. That's my kind of woman." He grinned._

_Selena half-smiled, but the ashen image of what used to be Mirage stuck in her mind._

The movie-dream kept moving right along, as the dream-Syndrome pulled out a new invention and stole the powers of one of the Incredibles, though it was unseen which one.

He had apparently gotten Mr. Incredible on Nomanisan for another face-off, though Mr. Incredible didn't know about how Syndrome had stolen one of his family members' powers while they slept.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" Mr. Incredible queried forcefully. "What are you planning?"

"I'm here for revenge, what else?" dream-Syndrome asked with a chuckle.

"Your revenge already failed. Even though you survived and we got put on house arrest, everyone knows you failed. Plus, you've already gotten revenge."

"Well, I want more revenge, because you ruined my childhood. No amount of revenge is enough for that. Anyway, I don't have the Omnidroid this time, and I'm not using my rocket boots or zero-point energy. Come attack me."

Mr. Incredible thought this was a very strange form of revenge but charged him thoughtlessly anyway.

And hit a purplish wall.

By the time Mr. Incredible recovered, Syndrome was gone.

"_Violet? Wasn't that her name?" Selena asked, recognizing the power._

_Buddy grinned and nodded._

"Thought you said you weren't using your boots, coward!" Mr. Incredible yelled, which just so happened to be an Incredible-y stupid statement.

Syndrome, who was in fact merely invisible, hit Mr. Incredible over the head with a force field.

"I'm not, I just stole one of your family members' powers so it'd be even. Your daughter's, to be precise."

"_Oh come on, don't give it to him. If he didn't recognise it on his own-!" Selena said. "It's as bad as monologuing, only shorter and to the point!"_

_Buddy snickered at this, but Syndrome shushed her._

Mr. Incredible was soon encased in a bubble. "Run, run like the hamster you now are!" Syndrome yelled, and began to chase Mr. Incredible. Mr. Incredible ran down a hill about halfway before he couldn't keep up with the sphere and ended up plastered to the inside rolling with it.

_Selena burst out laughing._

_"Doesn't that look like fun?" the 'real' Syndrome asked with a grin. "Wheeeee!" he said, waving his arms in mock excitement._

_Selena could only nod. His add-in sounds made her laugh even more. She was on the verge of tears._

Eventually the ball fell into the ocean and started to sink.

The dream faded out with dream-Syndrome watching the force field containing Mr. Incredible sink to the bottom of the ocean.

"_Well, looks like it's about time for me to have a dream of my own," Selena muttered as she noticed things starting to blur a bit._

_"Have fun with that," Syndrome replied with a grin._

"_I hope it's something better than the last few nights," Selena said. _

_Everything faded to black... and then colour appeared again. She was... back in his mind? What the hell? _

_She looked around and saw the dream-computer with the key inserted. She heard a noise from behind her, and caught a glimpse of Rylan leaving the room, unaware of Selena._

_She turned to the computer, now sure that he had done something terrible. She booted it up, and the Options menu appeared._

_The nightmare frequency was on "Every Night." Selena made a mental note to maim that son of a bitch as soon as she fixed this._

_She slid the bar down to "Once per week," and then clicked the S for Save. The "Saving, please do not remove the key" screen appeared, and then-_

"_CATCH, SELENA!" Selena jumped from her seat and turned around in shock. Syndrome was throwing Rylan with his ZPE. Selena made an effort to catch him, but she fell backwards..._

_and her coat caught on the key and it fell out of the hole._

_She heard a power-down noise, and then she heard rumbling._

"_SYNDROME! NO!" She screamed._

Selena opened her eyes and jumped out of bed, sobbing. She tried to open the door telepathically, but was in such a wreck that she couldn't, and ran straight into the door.

"nnh...? Selena? What's wrong?" someone asked drowsily from the other side of the door.

"Syndrome- Syndrome-" She sobbed, not able to tell who was on the other side. "The key- and I-"

"Woah, slow down. Calm down and tell me what happened."

Selena coughed something dreadful, and then sputtered out, "I-I killed Syndrome... b-b-because my coat c-c-c-caught ON THE KEY!"

"Selena, I'm right here." Syndrome opened the door. "I'm fine. I've been fine since you left because 'you had a dream of your own.'"

"And n-n-now I'm hallucinating- I'M SO STUPID!" She roared, pissed at herself. "I should've moved him MENTALLY! Not catch! NOT CATCH!"

"SELENA!" he shouted, and smacked her. "I'm FINE! You aren't hallucinating!"

"Ouch!" Selena rubbed her face, then her eyes, and then looked up at Syndrome. Indeed, he was very much alive. "Oh my God-" She stood up and flung her arms around him.

He hugged her a bit. "It's okay. Not the first time it's happened to someone."

Selena choked a bit on her laughter. "Y-yeah, wasn't it you last time?"

"Yeah," he replied with a smirk.

"It's like the authors are out of ideas or something," she coughed.

A lampshade flew out of nowhere and hit Syndrome. "Lampshaded," he said, snickering.

"You see, and I was hoping that was more of a hole-y fourth wall moment, myself," Selena said, letting go of Syndrome when she realised they were still in her room.

"What time is it?" Selena asked, bumbling around her room, looking for an alarm clock or something.

"I believe I checked when your screaming woke me up. It was two-twenty."

"Ooh, sorry," Selena said. "You need to get more sleep..."

"I don't want to go back to sleep..." He yawned. "...Scratch that, maybe I do..."

"Take a rest, it's for the best." Selena scratched her head. "I'm a poet and I didn't even know it... guess I can make a rhyme anytime."

"I presume you fixed the nightmare thing..."

"Oh, yeah. One per week, unless Rylan goes and screws that up- if he does, I'll take caution to wear a Supersuit or something that won't catch on the key."

"If... if you do wear a Supersuit..." Syndrome started, going back to his room, "...watch the cape."

_After watching that movie, I don't think I'll ever wear a cape again, even to fool around._

"Good choice," he replied before closing the door to his room.

Selena left her room and went out into the living area. She sat down on the couch, but instead of flipping on the 'tube, she summoned a bunch of paper from the computer printer and several pencils. She knew she couldn't draw worth a damn, but hey. It was something to do.

She took the pencil in her right hand, got a clipboard, and used it as a hard surface. Her stick figures were... quite terrible, and even that was putting it nicely. She hadn't drawn since she was five years old- it was no wonder she hadn't gotten any better.

After an hour and a half of piled pieces of paper on the floor, Selena scribbled out her final drawing and crumpled it up.

A light came on under Syndrome's door.

Selena did not notice the light. Instead, she threw the paper behind her and growled. "Dammit! I'm 17, and I can't draw anything more than a stick person and a bunch of squiggles!" She lifted the piles of paper up.

Selena got up and pulled a basket full of random objects to her with her foot. Bunches of leaves, twigs, egg cartons, and crayons were scattered about. She threw the pile of papers in, and then sat in it so there would be more room.

Selena then pushed the basket back to where it came from, and was about to go downstairs for a quick bite when she saw Syndrome's light on.

Selena walked close to his door and listened in.

_Maybe darken that line... define the hair a little better... that should be good._

Selena raised an eyebrow.

Syndrome opened the door to get something to drink when he nearly ran into Selena.

Selena jumped. "Oh, um, hi," She said, caught in the act.

Syndrome blinked.

"Shit," she said under her breath.

"What?"

"Erm, nothing," Selena said, sliding off towards the stairs.

"Wait, I have something to show you!"

She turned back. "What?"

He held out a piece of paper with a drawing on it.

Selena took it and looked at it.

The drawing was a sort of stylized cartoon drawing of a girl in a long, black coat, with dark messy hair. "That's me? Holy hell, show-off!"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Selena gave the picture back as one of her crumpled up pieces of paper came flying towards the two.

She caught it, flattened it out, and shoved it in his face. "EPIC FAIL."

"I wasn't intending to..." He trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." Selena muttered, crumpling the paper back up and sending it on its way. "But jeez. You're good at everything."

He shook his head. "Not everything," he replied before going back to bed.

Selena considered this remark for a moment and then went downstairs to get some breakfast- or any food, for that matter.

Selena reached the foot of the stairs and summoned a donut from the kitchen table. She was just about to take a bite and find out if it was creme-filled or not when she heard an odd noise coming from Cyrus's room.

_What the fuck...?_

There was a sobbing noise, and someone speaking softly, and the sobbing began to quiet slightly.

Selena quietly walked over to the door. Technically, she didn't have to stand and eavesdrop right where it was obvious, but she wanted to be more human. She stopped and put her head against the rickity door-frame.

Rylan's voice could be heard speaking to someone. "It's alright, ssh... You're going to be okay... it was just a bad dream."

Cyrus was crying, and didn't sound like she was going to stop any time soon.

Selena knocked quietly on the door with her right hand, her donut still in her left. "Hey, what's going on?"

No answer came from the other side of the door. Rylan kept trying to solace Cyrus, and her crying started to die down.

She creaked open the door slightly. "Hey," she said, sticking her nose through the hole. "What's the matter?"

Rylan and Cyrus were both sitting on Cyrus's bed. Cyrus had her face pressed into Rylan's chest and was hugging him tightly, while he was holding her head with one hand and gently stroking her hair with the other. He looked up at Selena, then whispered something to Cyrus.

He stood and walked toward the door. "You shouldn't be here," he hissed.

"What?" She asked, taking a step back in confusion.

"You shouldn't have been here. You shouldn't have seen that." He sighed as his eyes turned green. "You're not going to remember this."

"Oh, you wish, you little son-of-a-bitch," Selena said, glaring straight at Rylan. She started to feel the pull of his control, but she fought. She fought with all her might, and when she needed help, she remembered the lesson from Syndrome. "What are you doing to her?"

"She had a nightmare. I'm comforting her. She came to me for help-wait, why the hell am I telling you this? You should be leaving now..."

Selena snorted. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that your heart is showing!" She said, breaking eye contact with Rylan and looking at Cyrus.

_Hmph, if only she knew the reality of the situation..._

"Oh yeah? What's that? What's the 'reality of the situation?'" She asked, letting her donut float while she used airquotes.

"You think I'd tell you?" Rylan retorted. "Not a chance in hell."

"I'm not going to leave until I know that she's not being tormented by you, you sadistic little creep," Selena growled. "So either explain to me what's really going on or I don't leave until hell's fire freezes in-place."

"I'm not going to tell you, because that would be far too embarrassing. But I give you full permission to search for it." He looked down.

Selena blinked. "You've got to be kidding," she said, staring at Rylan. "You don't- seriously-" She searched his mind.

_A dark-haired man, on the verge of tears, and no one seems to know why._

_He knocks lightly on the girl's door, and it opens. She looks concerned, but quizzical._

_The first thing he does is hug her tightly. She seems surprised by this sudden display of affection._

"I was right..." Selena muttered, continuing to watch, to listen.

_She does not hug him back. He begins to talk to her, and then she begins to cry as well._

_He eases her into sleep for the time being._

_For as long as she is sleeping, he sits by her bed, motionless, never once saying a word._

_She screams and he is there, she starts crying about her nightmare, and he holds her close, and strokes her hair, making her feel warm, consoled by his words._

_He enjoys holding her, making her feel safe, in fact there is nothing he can remember that he loved more._

Selena opened her eyes, amazed at such emotion... but if she had learned anything thus far, it was that even villains have feelings. Suddenly, a thought came to her.

"I have... an odd question, Rylan. Feel free to just ignore it, but... When you took her memory away, why did you do it? And did you take my memory of her away too? Because I don't remember her at all, throughout my 11 years here."

"I never tampered with your memory, Selena... She was never there. She came to me after suffering a massive head injury, and I put her under my control and offered up those residual memories. I never erased hers, they were already gone. I even gave her the name Cyrus myself. And," he continued, still inaudible to Cyrus's ear, "she has never murdered. Not once. She only believes she has, and she has the potential to, but she has never taken someone else's life."

Rylan left the room and Cyrus stood.

"I heard everything he just said, and not a word of it's true," Cyrus said with a smirk.

"What?" Selena said, looking at Cyrus in bewilderment.

"Rylan doesn't know what he's talking about. What you know about me is true, Rylan's lying, though he doesn't know it."

"What are you going on about?" Selena asked, frustrated. It was all too confusing for her pea-brain mind.

"I forced Rylan to hypnotize himself. I made him believe what he believes happened. I want him to think I'm more innocent than I am... because that makes the illusions all the stronger. See, I've also planted illusions with him which make him think that I'm the girl of his dreams, and this time it's intentional. I'm manipulating the master manipulator. Isn't that fun?" Cyrus asked, grinning evilly.

"Oh my God," Selena laughed, "stickin' it to the man!"

Cyrus frowned. "No, not quite. See, the ends don't really justify the means. I'm just doing this because I feel like it, not because he wronged me in some horrific way. In fact, I actually never lost my memory due to him. I just didn't want to remember my life prior to him, because it was a shithole life. So I repressed them."

"Eh, still, everyone here in this house- save for Rylan himself- will appreciate you for this, even if they don't really know," Selena said, grinning.

"And even Rylan will appreciate it," Cyrus replied. "He's human too, you know. He's not completely desensitized to pain, mental, emotional, or physical."

"What does that have to do with him appreciating it, though?"

"Because he needs someone, even if they're only pretending... and, well, quite truthfully, I'm only half pretending, the other half really does care about him, but I'm not quite sure why."

Selena raised an eyebrow, then grinned. "Well, whatever it is, you're shoving his own medicine down his throat, and that's good enough for me." Realising the donut was still in her left hand, she took a bite. "Mmmm, creme," she said with her mouth full.


	21. Chapter 21

Rylan slowly walked back to his room. Despite his comforting Cyrus, he still felt... off. He was getting attached. And he knew she liked Syndrome... perhaps he could... solve the problem, per se? He mused over this as he lay down to go back to bed.

Selena scarfed down the donut, wiped her face, and then said, "I came down here for something..." She looked at Cyrus expectantly. "D'ya have any idea?"

"Umm, my best guess is... that donut."

"Well, that was part of it-" Selena started, bemused. She walked towards the kitchen. "Guess I've got to go back to where I lost the thought to remember."

She was in the kitchen now. "Hmm... nothing. Oh well. Any idea what time it is?"

"Um..." Cyrus checked her internal clock. "About four."

"Well, guess I'm stuck here waiting for everyone to get up at six, then... God, this is going to be dull."

Suddenly, Selena heard a noise coming from one of the rooms again. "Uh oh..." she muttered, quickly going down the hall to see which one it came from. Suddenly, a door opened in front of her. It was Sikes.

"Uh, hello, Sikes..." Selena said, an odd feeling in her gut.

"Hallo there, Nancy-girl," he said, a strange smile on his usually gaunt face.

Selena backed down the hallway. His eyes were gleaming. "So, Nanc-"

"My name's not Nancy. You know it."

Sikes smirked. "Nance. Come off it. There's no need to pretend any more."

Selena stared at him. "What do you mean by that-?" She cut off before directly quoting the man in front of her.

"As I say, Nancy."

_SHIT, he caught it! _Selena thought to herself.

Suddenly, without warning, she was on the floor in Sikes's bedroom. She shrieked a most terrible sound, and then Sikes pulled off his belt and hit her in the face with it. "SHUT UP, YOU STUPID GIRL! YOU USED TO LIKE THIS!" Selena was stunned for a moment- but then, something overcame her. She pulled her right leg back, trapping Sikes's left, and then, as quickly as it had started, she grabbed him, and pulled him down towards her. "Ah, that seems to have reminded you," he said, grinning the most spooky smile she had seen in half a decade. She shook her head, and then grabbed his left ear with her left hand, his jaw with her right, and TWISTED the head as hard and as quickly as she could. He was now lying on the floor beside her. She stood up, stomped on him in the most painful spot, and spat, "I AM NOT NANCY!" She then ran as quickly as she could out of the room and locked his door behind her telekinetically.

"What...?" Rylan mused, exiting his room. Nearly simultaneously, Syndrome followed down the stairs. "What's with all the noise?"

Selena, still breathing heavily, shook her head.

She pointed at the door, but couldn't even attempt to say anything to them, through her mouth or her mind.

"...Sikes?" Rylan asked. Syndrome gritted his teeth and lowered his head. His face felt hot. "...What did he do?" he growled.

Selena caught her breath. "N-n-nothing, Syn, never- nevermind-" She collapsed against the wall across from Sikes's door, and shook her head again.

Rylan smirked. "I think something. From what I heard... he was attempting to... well, you know." He grinned, and Syndrome twitched.

"I didn't- I couldn't- it was- I got him off-" Selena said, shaking a bit. "It was- I can't-"

Syndrome took a deep breath. "So... you're alright?"

Selena nodded viciously, and then held her forehead. "He- just- I-"

Suddenly she found her vocabulary again. "He just thought I was- was Nancy... I think he's got the point now."

"Well, don't we all hope so," Rylan replied. Receiving a dirty look from Syndrome, he stammered, "Because then this won't wake me up again!" The redhead smirked and turned back toward Selena.

"I'm fine- I think. I'm just a little..." Selena trailed off.

"Well, good," Rylan said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my own flesh and blood, now would I...?"

"Uh, what?!" Selena said, confused. "Just because you raised me doesn't make you my father or anything..."

"Not father, no..." He snickered. "But you're not too far off."

"Uh... uncle?" She asked, confused. "Cousin? I don't ever remember you at the family reunion they had when I was five... Of course, I hardly remember anything from then...?"

"Selena..." He grinned sadistically. "I'm your brother."

"SELENA," Syndrome shouted mockingly, "I AM YOUR BROTHER. Get a load of Darth Rylan over here, he's a riot."

"What-Rylan?" Selena said, the Star Wars reference over her head.

Syndrome sighed. "Long story short, you need to watch Star Wars."

"I'll take your word for it," Selena said. She then turned to Rylan. "Anyway, I can't be- WHAT?!"

"Indeed you can." He smirked. "Feel free to ask questions."

"You can't be my brother. You weren't around when I was a kid until I was thrown out of the house," Selena started. "Granted, you look a hell of a lot like my father, but with over six billion people on this planet, that's bound to happen sometimes."

"I was thrown out by our dear old mum as well. She called me a freak. I ended up dropping out of high school at sixteen, I couldn't be bothered with it anymore. Then I found you. You were there, and I thought, 'I wonder what would happen if she never knew I was her brother...?' And, well, here we are."

"So, wait- if you ARE my brother... Did you know Dad?"

"For a while... up until you were born. See, our powers came from dear old Dad, and once Mom found out about them... she killed him. He was trying to say that I wasn't bad... that I wasn't a freak... and she killed him. He was a pyrokinetic..."

"You've got to be shitting me. I have-found- a picture of him and mum and I- I was so tiny, where did I put it? It didn't have you in it at all," Selena pointed out. The picture came floating down the stairs, she caught it and then shoved it in Rylan's face. "See? There's Mum, there's Dad, and there's me. No you."

"Like I said! She kicked me out once my powers showed. She pretended I never existed."

"But then how do you know Dad died for YOU?" She spat. "How do you know his powers?"

"Eavesdropping," he replied simply. "It's not like I wasn't living in the backyard. He'd slip me something every once in a while."

Selena was struck silent.

"You can't seriously think he's telling the truth! It's RYLAN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Syndrome yelled.

Rylan's eyes glowed green as his head whipped around toward Syndrome. "Enough."

"Oh, God. Yeah, because that's going to make me believe you MORE, by going Green-Eyed on Syn. Mmhmn. Yeah," Selena growled sarcastically.

"He's getting on my nerves, and I wish he'd shut up for once, that's all!"

"I could've shut him up real easy, but no-" Selena cut herself off. "...Okay, that's just too much. I believe you- only because I just proved your point myself."

Syndrome suddenly toppled over backwards.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round," he sang, dazed.

"HOLY HELL!" Selena shouted. She grabbed Rylan by his shirt. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" She shook Rylan with a murderous rage.

Rylan trembled. "I don't know..."

"Mummy, I don't want to go on the Ferris wheel."

"HELL IF YOU DON'T!" Selena shouted. She then let go of Rylan and dropped herself down to Syn. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Mmmmh, owww. That hurt. Owwwwwwww."

"Syn!" She attempted to see what was going on.

"Stop it, Mummy!" he cried. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Syn-" She looked at him, and then looked up at Rylan.

_Can you hear me now?_

She attempted to send to Rylan, but there was only silence.

"Mummy-!" Syndrome squealed in a childish voice. "Mummy, please stop! You're hurting me!"

"Oh my God- he can't have- How EXACTLY did you get thrown out?" Selena asked Rylan, looking back at Syn.

"I can't remember... it's really fuzzy."

"Mummy, STOP YELLING AT ME!" Syndrome shouted. "CALM DOWN!"

"Did it have ANYTHING to do with a Ferris wheel?" Selena asked, holding Syn's head up a bit.

"Well..." Rylan trailed off. "That was earlier in the day, yes. She was afraid of beating me in public. I told her I didn't want to ride the Ferris wheel, and she told me I was to conquer my fear of heights... then I used my ability and told her no, and she snapped out of it and drug me to the car by the ear... and then this."

"Oh my God... Mother Dearest really was a horror," Selena said, jaw gaping.

"Mummy..." The inventor was sniveling. "Mummy, why?"

"Syn, please, get up. This isn't you- come on, get up, please," She moaned.

He shivered, then sat up a bit. "S-s-s..."

"There, there, you're okay, Syn."

"S-sister?" he said in a more teenage voice, somewhat a mixture between Rylan's and his own.

"Uh, no," Selena said, looking at Syndrome with obvious worry. "You're not Rylan. I'm not your sister. I'm your girlfriend. Come on, get out of it!"

Syndrome cocked his head to one side. "Huh? I'm not your boyfriend. I'm your brother. And I am too Rylan. You're having problems, I think."

"Syn-" She looked at his eyes. They were a bright green. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW, RYLAN?!"

"I'M NOT DOING IT ON PURPOSE!" he yelled. "I CAN'T STOP IT!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Syndrome protested as well.

"Syn, come on, snap out of it!" Selena said miserably. She was at a loss for what to do.

"Ugh..." Syndrome started, slowly and unintentionally rocking back and forth. "Ouch..." He clutched his head. "What the hell...? I don't think this loudly..."

"Syn? Issat you?" Selena asked.

"Huh...? Yeah... why wouldn't it be? Oh, God, my head..."

_Oh my God, he doesn't know. How couldn't he know?_

"Selena... what happened just now?"

"Well, this is where I draw the line. See you," Rylan said, and retreated to his room.

"GET BACK HERE!" Selena roared.

Rylan stopped. "Why?"

"You know better than I do what you've done to him," Selena growled.

"I didn't do a thing... I told him to shut up, that's all!"

"You- you were flashing back. Kinda like I did... way.. back.. well, you know. But the thing was, it wasn't YOUR flashback. It wasn't YOUR life you were reliving..." Selena started.

_It was Rylan's..._

"WHAT?!" Syndrome yelled. "HOW THE HELL WOULD I RELIVE RYLAN'S LIFE?... AND HOW DID I JUST HEAR THAT?!"

Selena's eyes widened. "You- you couldn't have... happened to be building some machine or something that... takes powers away, could you have?"

"I... I did, but I thought I'd disabled it." He looked down at his gauntlets. "Of course not."

"You... took my powers... Well, one of them. I can summon and everything, but as far as telepathy goes, it's gone," Selena said. "It's amazing, the clarity of my thoughts- anyway! You must've somehow tapped into the telepathy on accident and while Rylan was thinking about his own... what's the word... well, his own disown-ment, you caught it... and went... well. Crazy."

"Could've been the hypnosis, too," Rylan added. "Unintentionally."

"Great," Syndrome growled. "Now I can know more about people than I'd ever want to for forty-eight hours. Just FUCKING great."

"It BETTER not have been the hypnosis, you fiend," Selena said, glaring at Rylan temporarily. "Wait, forty-eight- Two days?!"

"I said unintentionally-" Rylan started, but Syndrome interrupted him.

"Yeah. Irreversible for two full days. Then it reverts on its own."

He sighed. _Eh. This is NOT going to be fun._

"You're not kidding. This is going to be really, really weird," Selena said.

_Wait, I sent that? Fuck._

She laughed. "That too. First off is learning how to control what you think from what you say, because it's harder to silence the everlasting roar of thoughts."

_And how _"Exactly does one do that?"

"It takes a lot of practise, kind of like a constant 'do ya hear me now?' sort of deal. But.. well, imagine yourself losing contact with all of us, and then try thinking something," Selena suggested.

Syndrome closed his eyes and remained completely silent.

"Hey, there you go! You've got it already!"

"AGH!" he yelled. "But when I come back, then it's overwhelming! Ow..."

Selena sighed. "The problem is, I got used to it before I learned how to cut off... Um. Lemme see here... visualization seems to help you... How about- HEY! The volume button on a remote control! Try that."

"Oh... that's much better." He flopped backwards, facing the ceiling.

"So, what's it like being a Super...?" Selena said casually. "Anything like you thought it'd be?"

"Well..." He paused. "At first, it sucks, but knowing you have this kind of power... It's like I always thought it'd be, yeah."

"...I still don't know what it's like being normal. Wish you had taken both my powers away. No longer the witch," she muttered, looking away.

"Well, I would, but I'd probably end up accidentally lifting things nonstop. This is enough."

Selena snorted.

_Yeah, I'm sure._

"Hey!"

"Ooops, sorry," She said. "I'm still not used to having someone be able to hear EVERYTHING I think..."

"Exactly," he retorted.

"What?! You know as well as I that there's not much control over it!" Selena snarled.

_God, I need a shower. Wonder if Cyrus would lend me her keys..._

"Probably."

"DAMMIT!" Selena shouted, clutching her head. "I'd- I'd better go- Where is she?"

"In her room."

_I need out of here before I think something really bad and he hears me! _

With that, she rushed to Cyrus's room.

"Oi, open up, please!"

Cyrus was snoring.

"Oh my God-" Selena moaned.

_Alright, where are her keys...? Oh, wait, still can summon._

She held out her hand, and soon it held a keychain with three keys. "Alright, I'm outta here. See ya'll in a day or so."

"Wait, what?" Syndrome looked hurt. "I... I won't pay attention, I swear!"

_Yes he will._

"Yes you will…" Selena muttered.

_Rylan will kill me._

Selena stood still for a moment.

_Take the chance of dead-Syn when I return? Or let him hear every stupid thought that comes to mind..?_

"...How about..." Selena trailed off.

_How about you take me to Cyrus's house, you go out and find some quiet place nowhere near me, and then in a day or so come back? Safe, although a bit dull._

Syndrome froze momentarily.

"Um..." He was looking at her almost as though she wasn't there, and he saw straight through her.

"Uh, Syn?" She waved her hand in front of his face. "Hallo, anyone there?"

"Nnnh..." he groaned drowsily.

"What the- RYLAN, you jack-ass!" Selena said, putting two and two together to make five.

Rylan sighed. "You never let me have any fun."

"Go have fun with some innocent! Not a character from a book who's here to HELP us!"

"But they AREN'T any fun, Selena," he protested. "They don't put up a struggle. He does, he fights off my control as hard as he can. Granted, he loses, but it makes the victory so much more satisfying."

"You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity," Selena mumbled. "You're sick, you know that?" She said a bit louder.

"And twisted, don't forget twisted." He smirked.

"Let him go, Rylan."

"I think not."

Selena summoned her energy, and then went up to her brother and grabbed him in the middle of his neck, fingers digging in. "Let him go, NOW."

Rylan struggled, but to no avail. "Let me go," he choked. "Please?"

"If- and only if- you let him go first."

"Never," he growled. "You wouldn't choke your own brother to death, now would you? And if you would, since your little boyfriend is now telepathic... I can manipulate him to my will without saying a word."

"I most certainly would choke YOU to death, Rylan," Selena growled, "brother or not." She gave a side glance at Syndrome, and then looked back at Rylan. "PLEASE, dammit!"

Rylan's eyes closed as he lost consciousness.

Selena let go. "That should do it."

She turned to Syndrome. "Alright, he's out now... so, whaddya say?"

"No."

Selena then turned to walk out the door when her mind actually realised what he had said. "What?"

"You knocked him out. I'm not going anywhere until he gets back up again."

Selena sighed. "Damn you, Rylan."

She looked at Syndrome.

_There's nothing I can do, is there?_

_No. Not really... Oh, that reminds me._

_Reminds you of what?_

_You've been into my mind often enough. I think it's time the tables turned._

"NOT while you're Rylan," Selena said with a tone of finality.

_Then help me, damn it._

_I don't know HOW, Syn! I'm as useless as an extra kidney! No- better- as a spleen! Rupture me and you die, let me stay there and I do nothing!_

_Well, I'm as useless as an appendix right now!_

_I don't- IDEA! I've got you now!_

_What?_

Selena walked up to Syn- and then smacked him in the face. "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Syndrome shuddered for a moment, and appeared to be coming out of it- then drifted back under.

_I'm sorry..._

"Holy hell, there's nothing either of us can do!"

_Maybe you just weren't doing the right thing... like for once, violence isn't the answer._

_...Since when?_

_Maybe just this one time._

She kicked herself mentally. "I get it… I think."

_Okay, you aren't Rylan, you aren't Rylan, you aren't Rylan-_

She flung herself onto Syndrome, and, while missing his lips, kissed his cheek instead.

_Damn, I have bad aim!_

Syndrome twitched a little and grinned. "No you don't."

She squeezed him harder, and then took a deep breath through her nose. "Oh, holy hell, I really need to get out there," she said, letting go and plugging her nose.

"You go ahead. I'll be fine."

"Alright, please be careful," Selena said, and then she turned around and left through the front door.


	22. Chapter 22

***

About 8:39 AM…

***

"Oi, I'm jerking the tinkler, can't any of you hear the damned thing?!" Selena said, shouting in the bitter cold. It was hard to breathe, the morning air nipped her lungs. She shuddered inside her 'good-guy' coat and stuck her gloved hands against her face to keep it warm. "COME ON! I didn't want to have to resort to this, but PLUMMY AND SLAM!" Selena kicked the door once in frustration.

The door opened a crack and a bright blue eye peeked through. "Who the hell are you?"

"Uh, I'm Selena. Who the hell are YOU?" She attempted to push the door open more.

"Woah, woah, woah, time out!" the person on the other side said, pushing back. "I can't just let you in that easily. You don't look like Selena at all."

"Hey, I know that voice! Syn! Lemme in, come on! I AM Selena, I told you I went to go for a wash... I smell much better now!" She lifted her arm and then put it back down, realising she wouldn't be able to smell anything through the coat anyway.

"You're going to have to prove that you're her. Quite frankly, I don't believe you."

"Come on, seriously?! You have my telepathy and mind-reading, look for yourself, dammit! It's not that hard!" She snorted. "He's not that hard…" she muttered under her breath.

"Well, if you really WERE Selena, you would've known that Rylan was still here, and you would've also known that I can't tune out his control when I use the telepathy. So... I'm not going to use it, and you're not making a very good first impression."

"I thought he might've gone to sleep early after being woken up by my screaming after almost being raped by Sikes, thanks," Selena retorted bitterly. "You can't recognise your own girlfriend?"

"Your hair is styled differently and you're wearing different clothes, if indeed you are Selena," he replied. "And your hair is longer. So I may have to interrogate you."

"Do you seriously expect me to just get on the bus with that driver who, I'm sure, remembers how I looked, seeing as I tried to murder him?! I don't think so! Technically, right now, I'm playing 'Luna.'" She gave little air quotes around the name. " 'Luna' is a normal, everyday citizen of Lotus City. Selena, however," she paused for effect, "is a wanted criminal in all of the suburbs and will soon be wanted in Main Lotus as well. I've GOT to protect my identity, surely YOU of all people understand that?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Selena..." He sighed. "If you really are- aw, screw it. You know we have to be careful. So I'm still going to interrogate you... because, well, if you were a fake, and we let you in, how much trouble would our plan be in? So... I'll let you in, but you have to turn around first."

"Okay, just get me out of the damned cold already!" She turned around with her back facing the door.

The door creaked open and Syndrome stepped out with a black cloth in his hand. He wrapped it around Selena's head, covering her eyes, then took her hand and began to lead her inside.

"Well, are you going to start questioning me yet? Or are you going to make me wish I had never said 'Okay?'" The thought of being dragged to Syndrome's room occured to her for a moment and she shuddered violently. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Just a minute." He pushed a bit into a chair. "Okay. So. What was the first quote you ever heard me say in the movie I'm from?"

"Something to do with... 'getting bizz-ay!'" She snorted. "Still think that's absolutely hilarious."

"Okay..." he replied, seeming satisfied by the answer. "What power did your father have, and why is he no longer with us? Sorry for bringing it up, but, well... better that than the lights."

Selena groaned a bit. "Yeah... it is... I never really knew Dad anyway. He was a pyrokinetic, and... well," She bit her lip and then went on, knowing it was necessary. "he died because dear old mum killed him because of his powers. He showed his powers because he was trying protect Rylan, who's my brother. Damned bitch." She added with a snarl.

"Um... okay, in Walmart, when you showed me your arms... where were we?"

"Uh..." She attempted to envision it in her mind. "Frozen foods?"

"Well... that's all I can think of..." He paused.

"You still aren't satisfied..." she said, downspirited.

"There is one last thing, but, well. I trust you enough to take off the blindfold so that we can try it."

As the blindfold came off, Selena gave Syndrome an odd glance.

"You have to render Rylan unconscious, is what I meant..."

"Oh," Selena said, wiping her brow. "Thank you for clarifying." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright. D'ya want me to do it the way I did earlier today? That is, knocking out Rylan?"

"Yeah, that would be alright."

"Okay then." She rose from the chair.

Heading straight towards Rylan's room, she opened the door telekinetically and hid out of sight.

Rylan nearly rushed out of the room, pushing the door open slightly and looking around frantically.

Selena raised a book from the shelf behind him, in his room, and dropped it.

He turned around again, glaring at the bookshelf. "What's going on? Who's doing this?" he asked semi-rhetorically.

"Heheheh," Selena chuckled, winking at Syn and then turning the corner and jumping out at Rylan. "Boo."

Rylan's scream sounded like a six-year-old girl that had just been shown a horror movie.

Selena cackled. "Surprise!"

Rylan glared at her. "What was that for?" he snarled.

"For the hell of it, as is this." She grabbed his neck, which he had involuntarily exposed, and tightened her grip. "Time for beddy-bye..." She said maliciously.

Rylan, caught off guard, gasped for air like a fish out of water. Within a few seconds, his eyes closed and his body went limp.

She dropped him and turned around. "That good enough?"

"Yeah. Now... if you don't mind... I'd like to take a look around in your mind..."

"Seeing as I just did us the favour of knocking Rylan out..." She blinked thrice and then looked Syndrome in the eyes. "I don't see why not."

Syndrome closed his eyes and focused on Selena's thoughts, and visualized his mental self going into Selena's mind.

_"Are you sure, Selena? Really? Are you REALLY sure?" A voice said beside him. "Nothing bad's going to happen anyway," the same voice said, sounding like she was trying to convince someone._

_He looked over to where the voice was coming from. A girl who looked just like Selena's good alter-ego was speaking. He glanced around. It looked like he was in a library._

_"Well, hopefully he won't mind-rape you then. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MIND RAPE?! He wouldn't dare do that! He cares about you!"_

_"OI!" A voice came from the back of the library. "Buddy, what the hell?! I said SYNDROME could come, not you!"_

_Buddy sighed and made his way toward the voice to explain. _

_After a bit of wandering between the shelves, he ended up in front of a desk. Behind it sat Selena in her normal clothing, save for donning a pair of glasses._

_"Well..." he started. "He couldn't. See, he has to stay in the conscious, and when you have D.I.D., and you can go into other people's minds, if only temporarily... the one that's not really busy has to go. Namely, me._ _And what's wrong with me, anyway?_

_Selena held her head up with her hand and rolled her eyes. "You're too mushy."_

_He made a face and sighed again._

_"Look, I- I'm sorry, Syn accepts all of me, but you're just... too... good. That and you still like Cyrus." Her ears turned a light pink. She realised it and quickly fluffed out her hair so her ears were covered._

_"Not... not that much..." he replied, disheartened. "Anyway..._ _I don't really know what else I was supposed to do, here."_

_"I think he wanted to look through my mind, make sure I'm Selena, maybe get back at me for always being in his..." She trailed off, and then scribbled on the paper on her desk._

_"Well, how the hell am I supposed to get back at you? I'm here, what else am I supposed to do?"_

_"I dunno? Screw around with my mind or something? Make me think terrible thoughts? Look, I dunno. Why ARE you here? Check out a few memories? See what you have to blackmail me?" She shook her head. "No, that's right, you wouldn't… you're too good."_

_"I'll just read some of this more interesting stuff, maybe. And I may have to give it to Syndrome to use as blackmail after that last comment." He set off for a more personal section of the library._

_Browsing through the "Syndrome" section, he made his way to the subsection labeled "Subconscious." There were only two books there, one labeled "Syndrome" and the other labeled "Buddy." Naturally, he picked up the one addressing him._

_Flipping through the book, he discovered it was mostly empty. Only the first few pages were filled, and that mostly contained how he was "mushy."_

_Frowning, he returned the book to the shelf._ _He then headed toward the section where all of Selena's past was held._

_He glanced at some of the titles when one caught his attention, something he was unfamiliar with. Lifting the book with "Preppy Bitches" written on the spine off of the shelf, he opened it and began to read._

_"First off, let me get you re-acquainted with my past. I was, at the age of six, thrown out of the house brutally. Then, Rylan adopted and disowned me within the time span of 7 years. When he threw me out, I was pissed. I wanted to get back at him! So, what's the natural thing to do?_

_"You turn on them. I was to become a hero, I told myself. Beat Rylan half-to-death if he got out of jail, when he got out of jail, just like any superhero would. Of course, I had heard stories about kid superheroes- they all went to school, they all attempted to lead normal lives. So, after stealing enough junk and selling it to pawn shops, I got enough money to go to school and become Luna Cook._

_"Of course, Rylan had told me all about school when I was younger, but he never told me everything. I had C's in my classes, I was far from the best student... but I was going off of the little Rylan had taught me, and the masses of books that I'd read. But, if I do say so myself, I was doing really well for a child who really only had a partial-kindergarten education._

_"The food at the school was amazing. Everyone hated it, but I loved it, I ate it all up. In fact, some of the students would actually pay me to eat their lunch for them- they added mayonnaise and syrup and all sorts of stuff to it, and I would gladly eat it up. I was always hungry, so I appreciated it, and I got MONEY for it too! I didn't know that they were being mean... not then._

_"Of course, I soon got used to school, and I attempted to make some friends. I saw a bunch of Elementals hanging outside of the school one day, after classes were done. I approached them cautiously, my tattered clothing blowing in the wind the Air Elemental had whipped up. They were all laughing, talking... they seemed like a bunch of superheroes in the making. So, I went up to them._

_"'Uh, hi,' I had said to the blonde boy, who was making the trees bend in ways I had never seen. 'I'm... Selena. Tell me... are you superheroes?' The kids looked at me like I was crazy. _

_'No, dumbass, we're Elementals!' He said. 'But yes, we are going to save the world someday...' He looked off into space. _

_'Excuse Benjamin,' The brown haired girl wearing an expensive looking blue dress said. 'He's_ _not supposed to use that language but he does anyway.' _

_I nodded. So, no curses. 'So, you DO have powers, then?'_

_'Of course we do! We all do!' The hispanic girl said, her finger on fire. 'And unless you do, we'll expect you and yourself to leave.'_

_"Of course, I was just learning how to read minds at this time... and then I heard something totally unexpected. 'Get a load of this battered piece of shit!' one of the voices said. I turned around and glared at the group. _

_'What the HELL did you just say about me?' I growled. The blue-dress girl looked at me funny. _

_'We didn't say anything! What are you going on about?' And then I heard her_ _voice again, only her mouth didn't move. 'This idiot! What a mouth! And my God, could she be any more dirty?'_

_"For the rest of the school year, I received many crude looks, many mean thoughts... until the very last day I was there. I had given up with this place. I ran out of class, and my teacher followed me. I knew I had to do something... somehow, I had to get out of going to school. So... I climbed up the school with a set of matches in my pocket, courtesy of science class, and looked down at the teacher who was yelling threats at me. I pulled out the box, struck a match, and set the roof on fire."_

_"The whole works came, fire trucks, police cars, ambulances. Going to the back of the building, with the alarms sounded and flames rushing well over my head, I summoned a cardboard box and sat on it. I then floated away. I never went to school again."_

_There was a blank page after that, then it went into Selena's plan. Buddy shut the book and headed toward the exit._

_"Did you get enough information to wish you hadn't read anything?" Selena called out after him._

_"I suppose you could say that," he replied, and left._

Back in reality, Selena was sitting down in a kitchen chair, taking sips of water, when she noticed Syndrome shudder. "Ah, you back?"

He nodded. "I had my suspicions, but... I knew it..."

"Knew I was Selena, you mean?" She asked. "I caught myself remembering my school days. Seems you got interested in my mind."

"Not quite... It involved those elemental kids. They were stuck-up... just like most Supers are. In fact, you're the only exception that I can think of... other than Cyrus, I suppose..."

Selena winced. "I... try not to be... but-" she sighed. "I'm just a complete ass to Buddy. You accept me for who I am, Super or not. I... am too much like them."

"I... I don't know." He stopped. "You're not anything like them."

She shook her head. "Tell him I'm sorry. I am EVERYTHING like them."

He went over to her and embraced her. "I forgive you. And," he started, ending the hug abruptly, "sorry for being so... for lack of a better word, mushy."

Selena rolled her eyes and tried to keep a grin off of her face, but failed miserably.

"What? I can't help it!" he said with a smirk. "You have to admit, being mushy isn't bad all the time... is it?"

"...I guess not," she said after giving herself a moment to mull it over. "Just... don't overdo it!"

He laughed. "I'll keep that in mind..."

_God, this is hot... Oh no, did I just think that? FUCK NOW HE CAN HEAR ME!_

Selena jumped back from the hug.

"What?" he asked. "What did I do?"

"Um, nothing," She laughed nervously. "I think I'm going to, um, go to sleep or something. Yeah."

He looked at her strangely. "Okay..."

"You seriously didn't hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Selena turned red. "Nothing. Maybe your telepathy's done a day early or something..."

"...Good. Tomorrow's the twenty-third... I don't really need that."

"I'll try and help as much as possible tomorrow if anything bad happens, but I think you're overreacting just a tad. Christmas is much, MUCH more dangerous in my opinion," Selena commented.

"I'm not overreacting... you'll see... goodnight, I suppose."

"G'night, Syn," Selena said, going up the stairs.

_I hope you're wrong..._


	23. Chapter 23

AN: This chapter was actually written before 21 or 22... so if it doesn't make sense, we're coming back once we're done to clean up the mistakes anyway, so just wait a bit.

* * *

Syndrome had known since the day began that it was destined to suck.

First, it was December. December was generally a really crappy month for Syndrome.

Second, it was Monday. Monday was a pretty crappy day of the week for him.

Finally, it was the twenty-third. The twenty-third was pretty much the worst day of the month for Syndrome. In fact, the day he "died" in his own world, was, in fact, an October twenty-third.

Now, all these factors combined nearly killed him. Had he not been in the world of Dark Calamity instead of his own, it would've.

Unluckily, this was Monday, December 23. So naturally, Fate was planning to put him through hell, possibly literally.

Syndrome attempted to stay in bed that morning to avoid the day. One of the most effective ways for Fate to get one out of bed was a nauseous feeling, so naturally a wave of nausea overtook him.

_Go figure. _

He staggered into the bathroom.

It then occurred to him that he was twenty-three years old.

He proceeded to throw up.

---

About half an hour later, Syndrome was fairly sure his stomach was empty (and that about half of his vital organs had come up as well). He was completely ready to go back to bed when he realized that Rylan still wanted revenge.

_Shit,_ he thought, and tried to analyze the best place to hide. Unfortunately, Rylan found him anyway.

"I believe I still need to get back at you for breaking my glasses..." His eyes began to shine green.

Syndrome's heart sank. He knew what was happening, and despite a great struggle, Rylan triumphed. Syndrome's eyes reflected the green of Rylan's, and his legs gave way beneath him. His eyes closed and he fell into a deep trance.

Rylan smirked and lifted him by the throat. Syndrome cringed slightly but otherwise didn't move. Rylan then threw the ginger on his bed and went to go find any poison he may still have had.

---

Syndrome awoke to find someone's hands tightly gripped around his throat. He couldn't breathe... He looked around. No one was there but Rylan, who was some distance away, smirking.

He tried to plead with Rylan to release him, but to no avail.

"This is my kind of revenge," Rylan said. "I love watching people choke themselves."

Syndrome gathered up all his mental strength and tried to defy Rylan. Normally, it wouldn't have worked, but due to the facts that

1. Rylan wasn't paying attention

2. He didn't have a direct hold at the time

and 3. Syndrome was in a life-or-death situation, it did.

Fortunately (for once that day) he was released, but Rylan only chuckled and began to hum a familiar but creepy tune.

Cyrus entered (another odd stroke of luck, at the time anyway) and Rylan smirked. "Hello, Cyrus," he said, then turned his attention to her. He grinned and took her by the shoulders. "Listen to me," he whispered.

Cyrus looked mortified. "Help me," she whispered toward Syndrome, but Rylan had already begun singing softly in her ear. Syndrome was too far away to hear, but it was apparently very soothing, as Cyrus fell asleep almost instantly.

Beginning a very quiet and creepy rendition of 'That's Your Funeral,' Rylan advanced toward Syndrome...

"Did I just hear a- WHAT THE HELL?!" Selena had entered. She noticed Cyrus lying motionless on the floor and appeared startled.

Rylan turned on Selena and his eyes turned green.

"Rylan, are you..." Her eyes widened. "STOP IT, NOW!" She appeared to try to move his head with telekinesis to break his concentration. It worked, and Rylan was quite stunned.

"You DON'T MESS WITH US-" he was thrown against a wall- "EVER AGAIN." He was lifted by the throat, and clawed desperately to no avail. "You know what happens when you mess with me again?" She threatened. "You squawk, Rylan. YOU SQUAWK." He was dropped, but quickly regained his ground.

"Cyrus!" he barked. Cyrus's eyes snapped open and she stood.

"Get Selena."

"Yessir!" she exclaimed, then turned.

"Oh shit," Selena said, turning to Cyrus.

Cyrus frowned and began to concentrate, creating illusory duplicates of herself.

"Oh come on, play FAIR!" She roared at Rylan, throwing him again. "Two against one? You don't need that!"

"I should hardly say I don't, Selena!" he spat. "Because it's really two on two. Your ally simply hasn't done anything."

Syndrome took that opportunity to realize that he didn't want any part of this.

Selena turned around, looking at the Cyruses surrounding her.

Syndrome activated his zero-point energy from where he was, picked up Rylan, and threw him through some of the illusionary Cyruses, apparently catching the real one along the way.

"Thank you, Syn," Selena said, narrowly missed by Rylan. "Nice to have you on the team, even if you're just playing bench." She then turned to Cyrus and raised her whole up in the air.

Rylan growled and turned to Syndrome. He seized up, extremely afraid. He couldn't move, couldn't yell for Selena to help him...

"Oh HEEEEEELL NO!" Selena shouted. She appeared to try to multitask and hold up Rylan by the neck and Cyrus at the same time. However, she appeared to be using too much energy on Cyrus, as Rylan simply shrugged off the attempt.

Syndrome felt light-headed and blinked several times. He felt so sleepy...

"Come on, come on, come on," Selena muttered, trying again.

Rylan went up this time, but Syndrome had already started to doze off.

"Damn you, Rylan, I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Syndrome jolted out of his trance at Selena's shout, but began to sink back in due to some unfortunate after-effects.

Selena tightened her telekinetic hold on Rylan's throat. "LET THEM GO!"

Rylan smirked. "I would just as soon die."

"That's the idea..." Her hold tightened even more on his throat, as Cyrus was slowly lowered to the ground.

Syndrome's head tipped to the side slightly and fell forward as he fell into a deep trance.

"Syndrome!" Rylan squeaked. Syndrome's head lifted and he stared emptily at Rylan. "Help me!"

"Syn, NO!" Selena shouted.

Syndrome did not answer either of their calls and remained where he was.

"He isn't listening to you! LET THEM GO NOW!"

"No!" Rylan spat. "He's not going to pay attention to you, either! Go ahead and try to get him to help you! I know he won't!"

"Syn, help me," Selena struggled.

Syndrome looked up and gave her the same empty, uninterested look he had given Rylan. "Why?" he asked quietly.

"I can't hold these two up much longer- I'm trying to save your life here..." Her knees bent slightly.

He took Cyrus from Selena without another word.

Selena wiped her forehead with her left arm and then grinned. "Oh, is that so, Rylan?" She said.

Rylan smirked. "Watch," was his only reply.

Syndrome dropped Cyrus in the corner of the room.

"SHIT!" Selena said. She rushed toward Rylan and held him up physically by the throat.

Rylan grinned. "I told you," he said hoarsely, then fell unconscious.

Selena dropped Rylan. "Syn, why did you do that?"

"I dunno," he replied, his voice still a little dreamy. "Just didn't really feel like helping either way... I'm sorry..." His eyes shut and he leaned back.

Selena turned toward Rylan.

Rylan's eyes slowly opened and he stood.

"Wh-whaaaaaaahhhh...?" Selena yawned.

"Are you tired, Selena...?" Rylan asked.

"Mmmmmhmn," She mumbled and fell to the floor.

Rylan sat down beside her. "I can help you get to sleep," he whispered with a grin.

"Uhhh...R-r-rrrrr…"

"I'll take that as a yes," he said softly. His eyes glowed their familiar green. "Go to sleep, Selena," he mused.

Selena's eyes shut.

And at that point, Syndrome drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

---

Syndrome slowly opened his eyes and winced, expecting something bad, but nothing came. His room was empty.

He blinked several times before realizing he was thirsty. He went downstairs to get a drink.

He poured a small amount of water from the tap and drank it. It didn't taste quite right, and he felt faint.

"Hello, Syndrome," Selena said, staring at him.

"Selena? What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"A lot now," She said, and she closed her eyes.

Syndrome felt Selena trying to get into his mind, and would have resisted had it not been for the poison Rylan had injected into the tap.

_Selena entered the subconscious. "Hello, Buddy," She said, eyes glazed over._

_"Is everything alright? You look kind of... off."_

"_It's fine, don't mind me. It seemed like something came in here so I thought I would check. Do you know where the main thought room is? Usually I can hear things from there, but if there is something in there..."_

_Buddy blinked. Something didn't seem quite right. "It's the second door on the right from the center one..." _

"_Thank you, Buddy." She turned, found the door and entered. A smaller computer was in this room. "Main thoughts. Yes." She looked at the screen. The more random, sporadic thoughts were in size 11 font, the ones like "Hunger" and "I'm bored" were in a large, size 48 font. She changed the font size to 36, typed in bold letters "Selena never loved you," and pressed enter._

Syndrome froze, shocked. How had that thought come to mind...? He knew it wasn't true... or was it...?

_Selena typed in another thought...this time in size 28 italics. "ZOMG RYLAN IS HAWT-fans self-"_

Syndrome unconsciously fanned himself before being utterly repulsed. "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!" he screamed at himself.

_Shaking her head, Selena typed in another thought, "Selena wants you in bed, but otherwise she could care less if you died." _

Syndrome bit his lip. "Where are these coming from...?" he asked to no one in particular. "I know it's not true... why am I thinking it?"

_She replied to these thoughts. "It's true. You could ask her yourself."_

He started to have second thoughts. What if those thoughts were right...? He didn't like to think about it, but he was now...

"_Selena could care less about you and your arm, your past, your story... she loves Sikes, not you. She's exactly like Mirage," Selena typed, not realizing Rylan was now infiltrating her memories too. "She has the hots for your rival, she's a bitch, and she's only in it for your pants."_

_Suddenly the mental version of Syndrome came barging through the door with a bacon and cheese sandwich._

_"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, then looked at the screen._

_"SELENA?!" he yelled, startled. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! You can't just go around inputting thoughts like that! You could seriously damage something!"_

"_Huh. Maybe I should continue, then."_

_Syndrome was taken aback. "Wh-what?!"_

_She typed in another thought. "You shouldn't like her anyway. She's seventeen, horny, and quite disgusting."_

_Syndrome stared at Selena, horrified. "You lied. You lied, all this time... you never did..." He began to shake. "BUDDY!" he roared. "MAIN CONSCIOUS NOW!"_

"_Of course not, Syndrome. Why should I? I am just a horny little bitch who does not know how to keep herself from trouble." Selena said, emotionless and monotonous._

_"Hah! Got you now, Rylan!" he yelled and fired a beam of zero-point energy at Selena._

_"Selena uses contractions."_

_Buddy came running in. "What's going on?!"_

"_LET GO OF ME!" Selena screamed. "BUDDY, HELP! SYNDROME'S GONE MAD!"_

_Buddy's eyes widened as he turned on his counterpart._

_"Let her go," Buddy threatened._

_"She's being controlled by Rylan! She put in horrible thoughts about herself trying to drive us apa-"_

_Syndrome was interrupted by a punch to the stomach. He dropped Selena._

"_Thank you, Buddy, I knew you were more useful than you seemed." She cackled. She backed away, and then sent both Syndrome and Buddy flying together- they landed on the keyboard. "kafxwofsdjlakmldkhclakmleiafjd" appeared on the screen._

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Syndrome yelled. "That's not even a coherent thought! It's a FINGERSPAZ!"

_Buddy rose first as he was not recovering from a blow. "What the hell is wrong with you?"_

_Syndrome wiped a bit of blood off of the side of his mouth. "I told you, Rylan's controlling her."_

"_It's not Rylan, it's ME," Selena lied, unaware. "And I've NEVER loved you."_

_Buddy just stared at her, not quite comprehending what she had just said. But Syndrome understood perfectly, and picked her up by the throat._

_"I bet you get a thrill from this, don't you? Bet it reminds you of Sikes!"_

_She clawed at Syndrome's hands. _

Outside, Selena felt a pain in her side- she couldn't breathe.

_"Syndrome, stop," Buddy growled. "She isn't worth it."_

_"What?"_

_"She's not worth it. If she's really that much of a bitch as Mirage was, she's not worth your time. You've always got Cyrus."_

_"But I don't LOVE CYRUS!" he yelled. "I LOVE SELENA!"_

_"THEN WHY ARE YOU CHOKING HER?!"_

_Mind-Selena's eyes turned blue._

"_Uh-gha-fcuac-" Selena choked._

_Syndrome put her down slowly. "You know..." he said to his counterpart, "you have a point."_

_"If I didn't, I wouldn't have brought it up."_

"_Wh... wha... What the hell was that all about?" She asked, massaging her neck._

"_You pulled a fucking Sikes!" Selena said. "Oh, wait- Buddy? What the hell?" She looked at the screen. "Uhh...I'm in your brain...?"_

_"Oh, sure, play the amnesia card!" Syndrome yelled. "I'm sure you don't remember writing that either!" He pointed accusingly at the screen._

" '_kafxwofs...' that doesn't even make fuckin- oh my God." She spotted what he was ACTUALLY pointing at. Her face twisted in disgust as she spotted the "ZOMG RYLAN IS HAWT-fans self-" and then, as she read more, she fell in despair._

_"You wrote that. You wrote all of that. While I was out getting a STUPID SANDWICH."_

"_I... wrote that…?" She said, not able to look up. She let her hair cover her blotchy red face._

_Buddy spoke up. "I think it really was Rylan controlling her, 'Drome."_

"_I would never EVER write that," Selena said. "Well. Besides the bit about how you shouldn't like me, that is..." She kept her head low._

_Syndrome crossed his arms and looked away. "That's not what you said five minutes ago..." Buddy, however, asked her if she thought a hug would make her feel better._

_Selena shook her head. "No hugs. I don't deserve them... Goddammitalltofuckinghell! I should've fought the sleep! I SHOULD'VE FOUGHT!" She pounded the floor._

"Ow!" Syndrome exclaimed back outside. "What the hell?"

"Sorry," Outside-Selena muttered.

_Syndrome sighed. "Should I clear the history then?"_

_Selena looked up, still all red-eyed. "What will that do?" She asked, worried that it would delete his memory._

_"He won't remember that he thought those things, that's all. It'll make life a bit easier for everyone."_

_"You know," Buddy piped up, "you could've done worse..."_

"_Don't tell me how I could've. I don't want to be the way Rylan finds out."_

_"Selena, you already know. You had a nightmare."_

_Selena's eyes widened. "Oh my God. I was so close to it..." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God Rylan didn't..." She trailed off. _

"_I fully give you the right to go through my mind," Selena said to Syndrome. "After all of this..." She shook her head._

_"I'll remember that," he replied with a smirk._

Selena opened her eyes. She was standing in the kitchen. "Whew, all of that has made me thirsty..."

Syndrome blinked. "Don't drink that. It's poisoned. I'm going back to bed, I have a headache."

"Sorry about that," Selena said. "G'day."

And so Monday, December Twenty-Third ended for Syndrome. Disaster had been averted, but only just.

...Of course, there was always tomorrow, Christmas Eve.

And the next day, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas, and the day after that...

To put it simply, life was always going to be complicated with narrow aversions to disaster in the city of Lotus, in the world of Dark Calamity.


	24. Chapter 24

_Of course, those sorts of complications are nothing like Cyrus is about to experience,_ Selena thought to herself bitterly.

Selena had been given a... rude awakening. The moment she had gotten up from her nightmares, she was thrown into another scene straight out of Hell.

"DAMMIT, WHOEVER HAD THE GUTS TO PUT THESE DAMN LIGHTS UP IS GOING TO DEAL WITH MY WRATH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The colourful lights flickered back and forth before Selena ripped the plug out of the outlet and threw the strand in the hallway.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY LIGHTS?!" Cyrus shouted obliviously.

"Destroying them, and you're going to get it next! You READ the story, YOU KNOW WHY I HATE THEM!" She screamed back at Cyrus through the floor.

Cyrus looked startled. "Oops. Sorry. I forgot that part."

"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS YELLING ABOUT?" Rylan shouted, now looking up through the laundry chute at Selena as well.

"Cyrus put lights up in my room! CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!" Selena literally spat back.

"Good for her!"

"Fuck you!"

"FUCK YOU BOTH UP THE ASS WITH A POGO STICK!" Cyrus shouted, then giggled.

"Sorry, that's just fun to say."

Selena's jaw dropped, and then after hearing Cyrus's apology, she snorted. "FUCK YOU UP THE ASS WITH A TWIZZLER!" She retorted, failing to make a comeback.

"HEY, YOU JUST STOLE MINE!"

"I _changed_ it! Just like Disney _changed_ the old show Kimba to be the Lion King and not give any credit whatsoever!" Selena said. "At least _I'm_ giving credit!"

"DON'T DISS DISNEY, THEY OWN YOUR BOYFRIEND!"

"ONLY BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T LET PIXAR DO THEIR OWN THING!"

"BECAUSE DISNEY'S PLANNING A HOSTILE TAKEOVER OF THE WORLD!"

Selena looked down at Cyrus with the most serious face she had ever summoned in her life. "And I'm going to be the good guy when that happens."

"Anyway."

"Oh, don't you ANYWAY me, Mr. I'm-going-to-ruin-my-sister's-relationship-just-for-kicks!" Selena growled.

"ANYWAY!" he shouted.

Selena summoned the lights behind her, and then, without warning, dropped them on Rylan's face. "Anyway," She muttered.

"OUCH, DAMMIT!" he yelled.

Selena shut the laundry chute and got up from the floor. She dusted her new pajamas off, put on her coat, and marched out of the room. "This is going to be one hellish day after another, isn't it...?"

"...Are you wearing foot pajamas?" came an inquiring voice belonging to a familiar redhead.

"Yeah, they're particularly warm," Selena said, wiggling her toes inside her newly stolen pajamas. "Just got them recently. Never worn jim-jams before as far as my memory goes..."

"You do realize that those are usually what toddlers wear, right...?"

"WHAT?!" Selena shrieked.

"Yeah... a lot of three, four, maybe even five-year-olds wear those."

Selena looked down at herself in disdain, but then she realised she hadn't been this warm in days. "...Well, at least I'm not freezing my ass off in here."

"If you don't care about your dignity, I suppose it wouldn't matter..." Syndrome grinned arrogantly.

Selena looked at him very seriously. "What dignity?" She said, trying to keep a straight face.

She then cracked a grin and looked at herself again. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Can't go setting fire to a theatre in footie pajamas, can I?"

"Not especially. People will think you're crazier than you already are, and then they won't think you're a villain, they'll just send you to the nuthouse."

"Hey, at least I won't get the death penalty. I'll be shut up in confinement with my imagination and my powers." She thought about it for a moment. "That could be fun," she snorted," but I shouldn't risk it. Don't think I'd get to see you..."

"Probably not. I doubt that they let in people who normally shouldn't exist." He smirked.

"Well, at least they were already in the nut-house, because if you showed up, I'm sure they'd think they'd all gone mad!" She chuckled malevolently. "Ooh, that is SUCH a good idea."

"They wouldn't think they were crazy if the guards saw me, unless the guards are convinced that insanity is contagious."

Selena snorted. "If they did, they shouldn't be working there." Selena and Syndrome had made their way downstairs, where Selena looked at the sink, perplexed. As she summoned a plastic cup, she hoped the tap wasn't poisoned any longer.

"Not many people would even think about working in one of those places. Beggars can't be choosers, you know."

She took a sip of the water. "Yeah, I know. I wanted pajamas, this is what I get... I need a drink, poisoned tap water is what I get..." She looked at her glass and poured the rest of the water down the drain, grimacing. "I need to learn to like pop."

"Mountain Dew works wonders if you don't mind staying up half the night."

"Half the _day_," She corrected.

"Well excuse me for being formerly diurnal," he retorted.

"Uh, sure?" Selena said. "Lemme figure out what you just said first... OH, I GET IT!" she said, slapping her hand to her forehead. "Di-urnal, like noct-urnal, only in the daaaay. Heh."

"Ding ding ding! Someone give the girl a prize," he replied semi-sarcastically.

"Thaaaaaaaanks, it's not like you were much help."

"You did say 'let me figure out what you just said.' You didn't say 'oh, Syndrome, please elaborate on what you mean because I don't understand the wonderful expanse that is your vocabulary.'"

"Probably because I don't understand half the words in that sentence," She mumbled.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you what they mean," he replied with a grin.

"What the HELL are you wearing, Selena?!" Rylan exclaimed, entering the room.

"A coat," Selena said, shrugging. "Now, lemme see. E-lah-bore-ate."

"Under that, fool. Sometimes I swear I don't know how we're related..."

"Jim-jams. Footie jim-jams. Gotta problem with that?"

"Yeah, I kind of do... seeing my sister wear clothing intended for children is a bit embarrassing."

"Well, according to you, I am a child running around the operation, so... " She paused for a moment, then turned to Syndrome. "E-lah-bore-ate on what you mean... seems like... explain?" She shook her head. "No, that can't be right..."

"It is." Rylan laughed.

"Hey, shut up, it's more fun to watch her guess!"

"Hey, I got another one!" She looked at Rylan. "So, are you done criticizing my perfectly warm pajamas or what?" She wriggled her toes again.

"I suppose."

"Alright then. Expanse... sounds like expand, which is to make bigger... Um, how did you use that again?" Selena asked.

"The wonderful expanse that is my vocabulary. You're close."

"Well, you're full of yourself, so you're... saying you've got a lot of words that I don't know. WELL EXCUSE ME!"

"Well, at least you're a good guesser and you can figure out this stuff relatively quickly."

"That and I can borrow on other people's brain power," Selena nudged Syn in the ribs with her elbow a little too hard.

"...HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! THAT'S CHEATING!"

"I didn't PURPOSEFULLY do it. But that last one, my brain just sorta... heard Rylan thinking about it..."

"Rylan, you should leave now."

"No."

"Rylan, go... be with Cyrus or something," Selena said, and then clasped her hand over her mouth.

_Oh shit, that shouldn't have come out_, Selena thought.

"With Cyrus? What... What's going on here?!" Syndrome asked.

"Uh, nothing!" Selena tried to cover.

"WHAT IS GOING ON, SELENA?!" he roared. "RYLAN AND CYRUS? I THINK I MAY HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE!"

_Not NOW, Syn! It's a very long, complicated story! Part of which _he_ doesn't even know!_

Selena then frowned. "Why do you care, anyway?" She asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I just feel like I should know these things!"

She tried to let a bitter thought pass from her mind. "Yeah. Rylan and Cyrus. Caught him-" she nodded her head off towards Rylan- "consoling her in her bedroom. And not like that, if it had been like that, you bet you would've known sooner, you would've heard me scream bloody murder." She shuddered at a terrible mental image.

Syndrome frowned. "Still..."

_Look, part of it is very strange and twisted. And I can't exactly go about telling you it without it being absolutely silent for too long._

_...Fine._

"So, uh, yeah, time for me to take my leave and hope to God that Rylan isn't going to kill me now," She muttered under her breath.

She turned around and then blinked. "Where was I going again?"

Selena snapped her fingers. "I got it, I was going upstairs. What the hell was that all about?" She mumbled, getting ready to go upstairs again, when she remembered the water. "Rylan. Your attempt at a reign is over, fix the tap, will you?"

Selena turned the corner, and then quietly sat down near the kitchen.

_Okay, here's the deal._

_Cyrus has him under her control. Only, unlike Buddy, this is all on purpose. Manipulating the master manipulator._

_The thing is, she thinks she may now have a thing for him. Which is only going to break her heart in the end, because he basically doesn't feel emotion beyond Cyrus's control._

_So yeah, that's what's going on, _Selena concluded.

_Well... at least now I know. Anything else I need to be brought up to speed on?_

Selena's mind instantly went to the fact that Syndrome was not going to be here much longer, but she swallowed and thought to him, _No_.

She quietly climbed the stairs, and then clunked back down them, trying to make it seem like she had been on the second floor. "So, uh, Christmas tomorrow," she said. "I'm not quite sure if I've told you about our New Year's plans yet, Rylan."

"No, you haven't."

"Well, uh, remember that whole plan thing, that I totally forgot the moment Sikes came out of his book?" She said, nervously glancing at Sikes's door as if he was going to pounce out on cue. He didn't, so she continued. "Well, uh, yeah. We're going to set the Miss Universe pageant on fire."

"And how are we planning on doing that?"

"I've got all the kinks worked out, don't worry! Syn sent a camera to the theatre, so we have the entire layout down. Then, on New Year's Eve, when everyone is on the edge of their seats, waiting for the show to begin, we pounce. You take care of all of the guards, and then Sikes is stationed outside the main entrance, in case anyone gets it in their head to come in during this. If they do, he kills them. I figure that'll keep him busy. After the guards are out, you'll make sure anyone who tries to get in goes directly to Sikes. Then, I was going to have Basta set the flame, seeing as he was experienced, but..." Selena stopped for a moment, and then pressed on. "I mis-read the book and found that he's deathly afraid of fire. So he's going to help Sikes if necessary. Cyrus will be stationed inside the theatre, and then the flame hits! She convinces the masses that the building is not actually on fire, and then escapes through a planned exit. Syndrome then locks all of the doors, and we get the hell out of there."

"And what happens if something goes wrong?"

"Oh, come on. What COULD go wrong?" Selena asked in response.

"What if one of us doesn't do our job correctly? Like, for example, I'm not saying this would happen, but what if I was knocked out and didn't manage to take out all the guards?"

"Syn has... capabilities," Selena said. "He could easily get rid of them. And if THAT doesn't work, Basta's got his knife and Sikes has... his hands." She shivered for a second.

"As for the rest of us, we've all got ways to fix things, one of us can do the other's job. We've all got overlapping capabilities somewhere."

"But what if Syndrome slips up somewhere? It sounds like if he messes up, we're screwed."

Selena thought for a moment. "Syn, will you give me an extra set of whatever it is you're going to use and teach me how to use it? I highly doubt you could slip up, but..." She looked at him, suddenly worried, "we need to be sure..."

"I... I suppose I could try to teach you, but it's kind of complicated."

"I'll try my best to learn. Just as long as you don't astound me with your expansive vocabulary," She added.

"I can't help myself, it just comes out." He shrugged.

"Well, then, make sure you, uh, elaborate."

"Fine."

"I think it's settled then, it's all safe and sound..."


	25. Chapter 25

Cyrus giggled, mistletoe dangling from her hand. Placing it strategically over the doorway to the living room, she removed the nail from her mouth and placed it gently over the mistletoe. She then brandished her hammer and hit it several times at full force, creating a banging loud enough to wake up the entire house.

"Gah, DON'T SHOOT!" Selena screamed at the top of her lungs, waking with quite a jolt. "Oh God, they're after us already and we haven't even done anything yet," she muttered, jumping out of bed and running down the hallway in her footie pyjamas.

"What the HELL, Cyrus?" Rylan yelled over the banging. He'd woken from his extremely brief nap in the living room and gone to where Cyrus was... directly under the mistletoe. He glanced up and frowned.

"...you've got to be kidding me..."

Selena looked at the spectacle and first wiped her brow- nobody was shooting, it was just Cyrus. But then, she realised what Cyrus was doing, and snickered uncontrollably. "Oh my God, this is too good. Rylan and Cyrus stuck under the mistletoe!" She then burst out in hysterics. "Well, go on!"

"But-but-but it was supposed to be for you and Syn... Ah, screw it!" Cyrus exclaimed, and stood on her tiptoes, followed by her shaking her head. She lowered herself back to her normal height and instead grabbed Rylan by the goatee and yanked him down to her level, then proceeded to kiss him fully on the lips. His eyes widened.

Selena continued to laugh. "Didn't see that one coming, did ya, Rylan?" She had tears in her eyes, this was all just too good.

Rylan broke away from Cyrus earlier than she'd expected and stood up fully. "C-cyrus... if you don't mind... could we continue that..." He glared at Selena. "...out of the public eye?"

Cyrus giggled. "Really?"

Selena's laughter ceased immediately. "Wait, what?! I thought you were gay!"

Rylan blinked. "...That was one of the most wonderful things I've experienced that didn't involve controlling someone. But... it's never been this way before..."

Selena shrugged. "Eh, who knows?" She snorted a bit as she remembered Cyrus's plot, and she facepalmed. "Riiiiiiiiight, that's what I forgot!" She turned around-

And about bumped headfirst into Sikes.

"Wot's all the bloody racket?!" He yelled quite loudly into her ears.

"Dudes, pipe down," Another voice said. Selena jumped and turned to face Basta. She muttered something about character-derailment and slowly edged around the two book villains.

Cyrus and Rylan moved into the living room, leaving Basta and Sikes.

Sikes and Basta both headed towards Rylan and Cyrus to see what all of the noise had been when Basta looked up. "Great. First my villainous image is ruined by Ashley and her terrible writing skills, and now I'm stuck under mistletoe with _Sikes_." The exchange of looks between the two would have been very humourous to any passers-by. Sikes glared at Basta, and slapped him.

"Don't you even try it," he growled. Selena chuckled, shaking her head.

"RYLAN!" Cyrus cried. The exhausted man's eyes opened.

"Wh-what?"

"You fell asleep, asshole!"

"N-no, wait, I'm just really exhausted, Cyrus!" he stuttered as Cyrus turned and stomped off toward the stairs.

Selena attempted to stop the fuming Cyrus. "Hey, we've all had a rough week, I'm sure he's just-"

"What did I miss?" Syndrome said, swinging his bedroom door open wide and hitting Cyrus squarely in the face.

"Mistletoe," Selena said bluntly, "that's what you missed. Cyrus was putting some up to trap us, and instead Rylan came up to her, and all hell broke loose as usual. And then Sikes and Basta-" She snorted.

"Cyrus! Are you alright?" Rylan exclaimed, rushing to the dazed girl's side. "Did he break anything? If he did, I'll make him pay, I swear it!"

"Oh no you don't, Mr. Suckup!" Selena growled, jumping in front of Syndrome. "I don't think so, he's already paid enough just this last Monday! Let him be!"

"Oh no YOU don't, Selena." Rylan's eyes glowed. "If he didn't injure Cyrus, I'll leave him be. If he did... then he WILL pay."

"Rylan! Knock it off. I'm fine, my nose is just a little sore."

Rylan closed his eyes. "Alright. I won't do anything. Do as you wish, I'm going to eat."

Selena breathed a sigh of relief, and brushed herself off. "Thank God."

_I'm not quite sure what I could've done for him, really... _she thought miserably.

She shook her head and then her stomach growled. "Gah, I get the point, food glorious food, right?" Her stomach growled again. "I take that as a yes."

"I'm going to go back to bed," Syndrome remarked, and shut the door.

"Wait, Syn! Gah, see what you've done?" Selena said to her stomach. Another gurgle. "Haha, very funny. Let's go get you a... donut or something."

With that, she stomped down the stairs, and entered the kitchen.

Rylan blinked rapidly, staring down into his cheerios. He was so tired... and the next thing he knew, he was plunging headfirst into the darkness (and also into his bowl of cereal).

Selena burst out in another set of giggles at this surprising sight. "What the hell have you been doing recently?" Selena asked Rylan loudly, squatting so she was the same height as her brother on his chair.

Rylan's head shot up. His face was dripping with milk and there were more than a few cheerios stuck to his face. "Whaaaa?"

Selena fell to the floor and doubled over with laughter. "Oh my gosh your faaaaaaaaace!"

Rylan glared at Selena. "Honestly, that's only funny so many times, Selena, and it's a childish joke, I thought you'd- ARE THERE CHEERIOS ON MY FACE?!"

Selena could only nod as she continued to roll on the floor, laughing so hard she had trouble breathing.

"It's not that funny!" he yelled, picking Cheerios off of his face and throwing them back into the bowl. "Honestly, you people drive me insane!"

Selena gasped for air, and sat up, saying, "but- but- you've done- that before!" She giggled. "Remember? I must've been about 7 or something, it was back when Gwen was around... Oh man-" she giggled again. "Gwen. She was a riot. I remember coming into your room, and she was all-" She snorted. "Of course, I didn't get it at the _time_ but..."

"Gwen was a slut who didn't seem to understand I wasn't interested in her."

"But it sure as hell's funny now that I look back on it. I was all... 'Rylan, why is Gwen on you like that?!'" Selena smirked. "Man, I was so innocent..."

The memory disappeared from Selena's mind as her stomach rumbled, louder than ever. "Alright, alright! Here I go, then, get a donut." She opened the cupboard door where the donuts usually were...

"Oi! WHAT BLOOMIN' IDIOT TOOK THE LAST DONUT?!"

"Probably your _boyfriend_. I'm going to bed." He headed toward his room-then tripped. He was asleep before he hit the floor.

Selena moaned quietly. She hadn't had any supper yesterday.. and now this?! "Syyyyyyyyyyyyyn!" She shouted over her stomach.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

"Did you have the last donuuuut!?"

"I don't know! I don't think so!"

"Did you have any donuts at all!?"

"Oh, yes! I had four last Tuesday-HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW?! I don't remember eating breakfast at ALL lately!"

Selena sighed and rolled her eyes. Cheerios were not on her top ten favourite cereals list... actually, it was pretty close to number one on the top ten foods she hated most, along with zucchini and cucumber. She got out a bowl, some milk, and the Cheerios box.

"Wait, I had Fruit Loops once!"

---

Selena knocked on Syndrome's door a couple hours later. "Hey, they're going to do the gift giving..." She said through the door.

"Ughhhhh. I feel like shit right now..." He opened the door.

"What's the matter, Syn?" Selena asked, looking at him.

"I stayed up late-or early depending on how you look at it... figuring out exactly what I'm going to need to do for the Universe thing."

"Oh," Selena said. "I'm sorry... I appreciate the thought, but if you're not feeling well, things won't run smoothly. So don't overthink it."

Syndrome snorted. "Me, not overthinking things? What universe are _you_ living in?"

"My own little world, I guess," Selena muttered. She looked at him, and then jerked her head in the living room's general direction. "Come on, this ought to make you feel better... Cyrus is being very Christmas-y today." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so, it doesn't make me feel any better, but maybe you've got a chance..."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him out from the doorway. "Come on. Help me live through this hell."

"Huh?" He blinked several times. "What do you mean?"

"Syn, I can't stand Christmas. You know that." She shook her head. "I'm trying to get through the day without killing someone, mainly my mother. You being at the gift exchange would help."

"Fine... I have to get a present though... don't feel bad if you get it, alright?"

"Alright...?" Selena said, looking quite puzzled as Syndrome headed for the stairs.

She did an about face and walked into the living room and sat down. A miniature Christmas tree was standing in the middle of a semi-circle formed by Cyrus, Rylan, Sikes, and Basta.

"Syndrome's in getting his present," She said to nobody in particular as she sat down on the floor, staring at the blinking fiberoptic tree. "Where did we get this, and when?"

"Fifteen minutes ago from my house," Cyrus replied with a grin. "I have several. I love Christmas!"

"I know," Selena groaned. "I was hoping you stole it, personally.. instead of actually owning one. At least it's not the gigantic one mum had."

"Oh, they're all stolen, actually."

Selena perked up a bit. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Cyrus smirked. "You didn't honestly think I paid for them, did you? This one's from the grocery store, a few other ones are from houses..." She glanced at her green sweater. "You're a as slimy as a Mudkip, you're as charming as an eel, miss Cyrus..."

"That's a strange song..." Selena said, missing the reference.

"You've never seen 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas?' You need to get out more," Syndrome replied from the doorway, his hair brushing the mistletoe slightly as he entered. "It's about this green thing that tries to steal Christmas by taking presents and Christmas trees and shit."

"Hmm, sounds like fun, I'll keep that one in mind for next time," Selena said. "Probably better than setting fire to a building."

"Don't do it, because your heart will grow three sizes and you'll end up joining them and cutting some turkey or whatever the hell it was for them."

Selena stared at Syndrome and squirmed a bit. Sikes also looked quite confused, but he dismissed it quickly. Basta snorted. "Even I know of that silly old tale, and I'm not from the book you read me from!"

"Anyway, I've got my present." He held up a small dark blue bag with the opening taped shut.

"Alright, let's get this over and done with."

"Alright, so everyone take a number," Cyrus said, holding out a bag with a few slips of paper in them.

Selena drew her number and looked down. 3… naturally.

Syndrome picked next and drew a 1, followed by Rylan who drew a 3. Sikes drew a 2 and Basta drew a 1. Cyrus finished off the drawing by pulling out the final number, a 2.

"Alright, now figure out whose number you match with and exchange presents with them."

Syndrome blinked. "Could've been worse, I guess..."

Cyrus grinned. "So! Who should exchange first?"

"How about we go in numerical order, huh? Or is that too smart coming from my mouth?" Selena growled.

"...I guess that makes sense. Boy do I feel dumb."

Syndrome shoved his bag toward Basta.

Basta looked at Syndrome and took the bag and opened it. "Great, just what I've always wanted," Basta said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Batteries."

"It was last minute and I couldn't think of anything else extremely generic on the spot."

He took out his knife out of his jeans and handed it to Syndrome. "Here _you _go, then. The only damn thing I have."

Syndrome blinked. "Sorry. Maybe you could trade Sikes for whatever he gets. I'm sure he could use them..."

"SPEAKING OF SIKES LET'S TRADE NOW!" Cyrus screamed.

Selena covered her ears and then screamed back. "HE'S JUST ACROSS THE ROOM! DO YOU HAVE TO YELL?!"

"YES!"

Sikes cowered a bit and took off his hat. Selena gasped. "But-but-but- you're supposed to have that hat later-" She slapped her hand over her mouth. "MmnevermindwhatIjustsaid," she said quickly.

"Hey, neat!" Cyrus put on Sikes' hat. "I feel seventy-three percent cooler now! Here's mine." She handed him a rather large box of matches. "Good thing you're not Basta."

Sikes looked at the matches. "Hey, they look like..." he pulled out a match and struck it. It caught aflame. Sikes blew it out and put the box into his pants. "Thanks."

Selena's jaw dropped. "He has manners?!"

Sikes ignored this last statement. Basta tossed the pair of batteries to the now-hatless man and said, "Here. Put these in that flashlight of yours."

Selena summoned her gift from her room and shoved it at Rylan. "Here."

Rylan handed her a small package wrapped in green paper. "Thanks," he replied flatly. "I always wanted a dolly." He snorted.

Selena ripped the paper off of a book. "1984. Fun. The boring version of history..."

Rylan snorted again. "History? Not even close. More like a prediction of what's to come. It's full of torture and such. It's good paranoia fuel. Also, the villains win in the end."

Selena grinned. "Wow, I thought that didn't happen, save for random fanfictions."

Sikes pulled out his matchbox again and started striking matches and then quickly putting them out, until...

"FUCK!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. He dropped the match and started blowing on his fingers. "Fuckfuckfuck," he cursed.

Selena watched the match fall to the tree and giggled with fiendish delight when it caught flame. "Oh yeah! Burn, baby, burn!"

"You do realize that WE'RE going to burn if someone doesn't do something, right?"

"Mm, we're all going to burn eventually, Basta," Selena said.

"Still, best to prevent burning prematurely," Rylan said, and pulled out a fire extinguisher from under the couch, spraying the fire until it was thoroughly extinguished. "Otherwise your plan would've been for naught."

"Why the hell do you have a fire extinguisher UNDER THE COUCH!?" Selena asked.

"I took Scar's advice."

Selena gave him a blank stare.

"Scar. From The Lion King. Be Prepared?"

Selena snapped her fingers. "That's right! That one awesome lion."

"Precisely."

"LET'S GO CAROLING!" Cyrus yelled.

"Oh God, no," Selena moaned.

"Why not?"

"I don't *DO* singing, I don't *DO* Christmas, I HATE this!"

"Plus, my singing makes peoples' ears bleed," Syndrome added.

"THEN I'M NOT HELPING WITH YOUR PLAN!" Cyrus screamed, frustrated.

Selena looked at Cyrus with a frustrated expression. She sighed and shook her head. "Fine." Selena kicked over the burnt tree and cursed.

Cyrus grinned. "Yay! Everyone get some warm clothes on, WE'RE GOING CAROLING!"

---

"Syndrome the redhaired villain (villain)

was a very awesome guy (by and by!)

And if you ever saw him (saw him)

You'd probably say "he can fly?!" (oh my!)

All of the other villains (villains)

Used to laugh and call him names (like Big-Head)

They never let poor Syndrome (Syndrome)

Join in any villain games (like genocide!)

Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Selena came to say...

"Syndrome with ZPE so cool, won't you come pwn Sikes the fool?"

Then all the villains loved him (loved him)

As they shouted out with glee (yippee!)

'Syndrome the redhaired villain (villain)

You'll go down in history! (Like the Ripper!)'"

Selena growled. "No offense to you or anything, Syn, but I hate this..."

"You think you're the only one? At least you're a decent singer and you're more used to warm cli-" He sneezed. "Climates, sorry."

Selena took off her coat. "I think you mean cold climates, and here. Have this. I swim in it."

He put on the coat. "Yeah, whatever. You're more used to the cold. I lived on a tropical island. Hasn't even been thirty minutes without a heater and I've already got a cold." He coughed a few times. "It's too cold for me to think straight, too. It's annoying. Although not being able to think straight may be Rylan's fault as well," he finished, glaring at the back of Rylan's head.

Selena also glared at Rylan. "Betcha he's loving this right now, he's purposefully doing that and going to blame it on Cyrus's idea..."

"I dunno," Syndrome started, then sneezed again. "I don't think it's intentional... but yeah, he's sure as hell enjoying it," he said, watching Rylan grin as another person fell to the ground.

Selena shuddered. "Damn, I thought the pyjamas would be enough..."

Syndrome shook his head violently. "I need to stop listening to Rylan... but it's so difficult..."

She looked at Syndrome. "I can't help at all, it's worse because I hear both his mind and his voice..." She hit her brother over the head. "Oi! Could you be a little less... yourself for once?!"

"You think I'm doing this on purpose? It happens whenever I sing." An evil glint shone in his eyes. "And I'm just trying to please Cyrus. She wanted us to sing. So that's what I'm doing."

"You would... Told ya so, Syn."

"No, I told YOU so, he's not doing it on purpose but he's taking advantage of the situation."

Selena was silent for a minute and replayed what had just been said in her head. "Oh, right."

"Told you."

She cursed. "Why can't I ever be.. ah- ah-" She sneezed. "Why can't I ever be right?!"

"You were earlier, when I said you were more used to warm climates but that's not what-" He broke into a small coughing fit. "...Not what I meant," he finished hoarsely.

Selena looked at him miserably. "This sucks... even more for you than for me, which makes it suck more for me, which- GAH!" She exclaimed. "It's a never ending circle!"

She looked up at Rylan and Cyrus. "Oi, guys, if we don't go back soon, we're all going to be too sick to do the job!"

Sikes and Basta muttered in agreement behind Selena.

"Well, I'm not amused very much by these... pitiful people without powers falling under my influence anymore... I just wish we could stay to watch them get hypothermia. But if we did, we might get it too... Ah well. Can't have your cake and eat it too, I suppose."

"What do you mean, PITIFUL?" Syndrome growled.

"Syn, calm down!" Selena whispered.

"Oh, did you take offense to that?" Rylan chuckled. "And what do you plan to do about it?"

Selena looked at Syndrome. "Don't- please-"

"Don't what? Throw him into traffic with zero-point energy? It'd give me away. I can't do that... not yet."

"You can hurt him all you want when we're out of the public eye, just not now!" She hissed urgently.

"I know that. I'd get arrested. And that would be bad..."

"Very. Rylan, come on. We need to go back before people notice a trail of bodies leading straight to us!"

"Alright, fine..." He grinned. "So you're too weak to do anything about my comment. Just as I-" Rylan stopped. "Ow... what just happened?"

"You stopped being a Super, that's what happened," Syndrome replied, smirking. "Let's go."

Selena grinned. "Now THAT'S thinking!"

---

"By the way, thanks for the epic Christmas present, Rylan," Syndrome said, pushing open the door. "I've fine-tuned it so I can give your powers back whenever I want, but I really don't feel like it right now. You might get them back tomorrow."

Selena grinned. "God it's nice in here. Warm..." She paused. "Oh, sure, NOW I get ideas how to warm up out there, after we're back..." She yelled up at the ceiling in general. "Why couldn't they have come earlier, huh!? You freaking bastard!"

"Man. I'm desperate to test out these powers now..."

Selena looked at Syndrome apprehensively.

"What? I just want to see how they work."

"You aren't going to go all stark-raving-mad on me then?"

Syndrome laughed. "I already WAS, if you hadn't noticed. I don't know if it'll get worse or not, if that's what you're asking."

"Okay, well... I trust you," Selena said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like my coat back."

Syndrome pulled off Selena's coat and handed it to her. "I've been waiting to do that for so long..."

Rylan sulked and Cyrus followed him to his room, a hand on his shoulder.

Selena looked at the couple. "God, right now I really wish I couldn't hear thoughts, really..."

"Anyway... who should I test it on?"

"Well, I... I guess, uh, me?"

"You're... you're okay with that?"

Selena nodded. "As long as you don't go... overboard," She said, thinking of Rylan. "I don't want you to become like HIM."

"I..." He sneezed. "I don't think I will... I hope not..."

"Well then, go ahead."

Syndrome closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were a vivid green, the same shade that his eyes had been every time Rylan had controlled him.

Selena shivered at the sight for a split second, and then her mind went blank.

"You know, this is kind of making me wish that you _didn't_ like me, so I could take advantage of the situation... I suppose that's just me being a villain, though." He smirked. "Follow me." He began to walk up the stairs, and Selena followed as ordered.

"Hmm. Or..." He turned to Selena halfway up the stairs.

"Alright, Selena. I want you to forget that you ever liked me until I tell you to remember it again, alright? And in case I forget, as soon as you go back to normal, I want you to remember anyway."

Selena nodded, and then suddenly, she gave him a death glare. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Oh, nothing," he replied, grinning. "Though I would like it if you'd touch your nose and spin around in a circle three times."

"Why the hell would I do-" She touched her nose and spun around slowly three times, "-that? WHAT THE HELL, BIG-HEAD?!"

He laughed. "I forgot how much you sounded like Sikes back then. Heh." He climbed the rest of the stairs. "Come up here."

"Hell no!" But her feet did not obey her mind, only her master. She walked up the stairs towards Syndrome. "Dammit, Syn-drone, what the fuck have you done to me this time!?"

"I have some technology that can... well, borrow powers, if you will." He smirked. "Three guesses whose powers I borrowed."

"FUCK! You've got Rylan's, then! Dammit, you're far worse than he EVER was!"

"Maybe. But hey, in our little twisted, villainous world, isn't worse... better?" He grinned sadistically.

Selena just glared, and then, she flicked her pinky finger.

Syndrome snorted. "Was that supposed to do something?"

Selena growled. "Yes, apparently I can't move anything now, either, Syn-drone!?"

"Well, that might also just be your subconscious holding back because it doesn't want to hurt me," he replied, his grinning face only inches from hers.

"You mean conscience," she spat. "And why would I have one of those? Now, would you get your big damned head away from me!?"

He blinked and backed off a bit, wiping some of the spit off of his face. "Say it, don't spray it, and no, I didn't mean conscience. I meant subconscious... you know what, never mind, you wouldn't understand it anyway."

"Ex-CUSE me?!" Selena roared. "I think I know what you mean! I'm not as stupid as YOU!"

Syndrome laughed. "But you DON'T know what I mean, that's just the point! I'm not talking about morals, I'm talking about what goes on inside your head! You of all people should know that!"

Selena growled. "And if you knew anything, you'd know that I don't understand my own mind, my own thoughts, that it's all just randomosity to me! I can't use my powers on myself!"

"I'm not saying you'd need to know what goes on in your own mind, I'm just stating that you don't seem to know the definition of the word 'subconscious'. Besides, I was trying to be cryptic. You were supposed to ask questions." He chuckled. "Though I suppose that expecting you to do pretty much anything is expecting too much, isn't it?"

She glared at him and stayed silent. _God, he's such a fucking dick._

"So apparently you _don't_ want to know why you secretly don't want to hurt me? Fine. That's your funeral." He snickered.

"Well, if you're all high and mighty, why don't you actually speak straight instead of curving around the point, huh!?" Selena said, not making much sense even to herself.

"Because it's more fun to confuse the hell out of you!" He laughed.

"Well? What is it?! WHAT IS IT, DAMMIT?!"

"I can't exactly tell you... so I'll have to show you." He walked over to the doorway to the living room and stood underneath the mistletoe.

Selena snickered. "The almighty brainiac, out of words?"

"Why use words when actions speak louder? Come over here."

Selena started to say "no," but by the time the N got out, she had already followed his command.

"Well? A doorway. That's all you've got? A DOORWAY?"

"Look up."

She did, and suddenly, a feeling of dread overcame her. "Fuck," she muttered, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Alright, done playing this game... Selena, you can remember now."

Selena's eyes turned back to her pale blue and she looked at Syndrome strangely. "Well, that's one hell of a way to use his powers, relive the Sikes days?"

And then she looked around, a bit more oriented, and for the first time that night, understood. "Syn... come here." And she pulled him down, and kissed him, holding him there for several seconds.

She let go. "Well," Selena said, clearing her throat. "That was one strange way of going about it, wasn't it? You know, you could've just said, "I need to snog you" or summink and that would've done, right?"

"...That would've been too easy," he replied with a smirk.

"Of course... 'We go to the moon and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.' Always found that statement funny if you took it the wrong way, but... hey, it makes sense," Selena said. "Now, if only I could remember who _said_ that!"

"It doesn't matter who said it. Eventually it'll just become 'anonymous' in all the inspirational books anyway, because in the end, we all fade away... That was kind of depressing. I think we both need to shut up for a while because what we're saying isn't coming out right. So..."

"So..." Selena repeated.

There were footsteps on the stairs, and Cyrus entered the hallway. "...Aww, don't tell me I missed it!"

"Fine, then, I won't say a word," Selena said, smirking.

"Awwwwwwww! Hey. You're still under the mistletoe, can you do it again?"

"That _was_ what I meant when I said we should both shut up now..." Syndrome chuckled.

"Oh- OH!" Selena said, and she smacked her forehead. "God, I fail."

She pulled him down again, this time a bit more dramatically for Cyrus, and gave Syndrome another kiss. She backed away, breathing heavily, and said, "Happy... Cyrus?"

"I know I am," Syndrome remarked, smiling giddily.

"Of course I am! BEST! SYNLENA! MOMENT! EVER! Of course as soon as it's posted I'll have to read the first one, but I got to see this one! EPIC!" She dashed back down the stairs in order to fangirl more.

Selena shook her head, grinning. "Such a fangirl at heart. I was happy the first time, the second was just- icing on the cake..." She giggled. "You know, now that I think about it, you controlling me to be all bitchy like that? That was fun..." she trailed off, a sick feeling rising in her stomach. One week. "It's... too bad," she muttered to herself.

"Yeah, that was kind of fun... Honestly, I do miss the arguments a bit... and the gloating without worrying about what you'd think of it... and what's too bad?"

Selena looked at him, and then bit her lip. Thinking quickly, she improvised. "It's too bad you have to give him his powers back."

"...That's not it, I can tell." His eyes turned green again. "Tell me."

Selena tried to fight the control, but soon she gave in. "It'stoobadI'vegottosendyoubacknextweek," she spilled out, tears falling.

Syndrome closed his eyes and embraced Selena.

"...You don't have to, you know."'

Selena shook her head. "I do, Syn... I do."

"No... no you don't... I don't have to go back... the fanfiction's been discontinued. My life would be at a standstill. Nothing would ever happen... and you wouldn't be there."

"Even when the book ends, the story still continues!" Selena sobbed. "You of all people... You read stories, stories that are the borderline, the author's not sure about making a sequel or not, but there's still obviously a life after the story is over! A story is only one piece, one chunk, of a world's life. No matter where it ends, there was still a beginning, or else there is still some more."

"But I've said before, Selena... My life is not worth living without you. I don't want to go back to a world where I have to deal with Mr. Incredible and his family and all the other goody-goody Supers and no evil ones. I'd rather deal with Rylan than Mr. Incredible any day. I want to be here with you and I'll be miserable if I'm not."

"But what happens when I die? What happens when I die, and you're sent back?! No recollection of the life you lived, just the old age to prove you lived it!"

"That wouldn't make any sense..."

Selena shook her head. "The old man, that man who taught me how to read objects out of books, told me how it was supposed to happen. The reader dies, the magic dies with them. The object is sent back as is..." she sniffled, "or in this case, the person."

"I'd still have my memories. Just because the magic died doesn't mean that my memories would too."

"Syn," Selena said, "I can't- can't possibly bring myself to keep you here- God, NOW I know why the man said not to mess with people... For once, I wish I would've listened."

"Why can't you let me stay here? Please... Selena..."

She couldn't take it anymore. "Syn, I love you, everyone knows that... I wish I could keep you here with me, we could live together, live a somewhat-normal life.. but that's just not supposed to happen. I'm a villain, you're a villain, we all are. And there's got to be something to go wrong... I think this is it."

"...Fine, if you don't want me here, I'll go. If you'll excuse me for a moment..." He walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Syn!"

Selena attempted to walk over to Syndrome, but she was shaking so hard, she fell to her knees.

"This is why I lied..." she said quietly.

"You would've had to say it eventually... better now than then, when we'd be hunted by the police and we wouldn't have time for this."

"I love you."

Syndrome responded with a long coughing fit.

"Ow," he said when he'd finished.

"... Are- are- are YOU willing to risk it? Forgetting me, forgetting everything?" Selena asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," he replied without skipping a beat. "I'm... completely willing to risk forgetting everything... because then at least you'll die happy. Besides, I'm older than you."

Selena cracked a grin. "Thank God for small favours, right? Now our age difference makes a lot more sense!" She snorted and then sneezed.

"Well, that leaves one thing, then."


	26. Chapter 26

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

"What?!" Rylan blinked. "You're not serious?"

Selena grinned. "Very, very serious, Rylan. Cyrus has had her fun. Now it's my turn." Her eyes glinted and she summoned her coat. "Come on, you went CAROLING yesterday! How boring is that?!"

"It's not boring when you can watch the passerby fall unconscious on the sidewalk and get hypothermia!"

"Well snowball fights are more fun because you can pelt your annoying brother or a fellow villain with a snowball and get them all riled up!" She ran outside. "Please, you guys?!"

"N-" Rylan was cut short by Syndrome's eyes glowing green. All it took was a forceful point and Rylan was heading toward the door.

"Thanks, Syn!" Selena laughed. "The snow's perfect and it's much warmer... Whoop!" she slipped on a particularly slippery patch of ice, and fell straight on her butt. "Fark, that hurt! Okay, who didn't shovel before people walked all over the snow?!"

She stood up and wiped herself off. Then she quickly sent a particularly small snowball whizzing straight towards Rylan.

Rylan blinked but did nothing more as the snowball hit him in the forehead.

"Oh, this won't be any fun. Rylan, snap out of it."

"Come on, Rylan. Stop being such a stuck-up prick and fight!" Selena then got hit by a well-aimed snowball in her shoulder. She turned around- Basta had jumped up in the air.

"Victorious!" He exclaimed.

"What are you doing, Syn?" Cyrus asked, noticing that he'd been making countless snowballs but throwing none.

"This should be enough..." He laughed, then picked up the entire pile with zero-point energy, dropping it on Rylan.

Selena burst into laughter. "OWN, man!" She ducked- another snowball had come from behind her and had almost hit her in the head. "Oi, try hitting someone else for once, Basta!"

"It was him!" Basta said, pointing at Sikes. Sikes shrugged and pelted another one at Selena.

Cyrus began to ad-lib. "RYLAN THE SNOWMAN WAS A REALLY PISSED-OFF SOUL..."

"With a lot of hate and a bloody nose and two eyes that look like coal!"

Selena saw another snowball coming out of the corner of her eyes- she stopped it in its tracks and sent it flying back at Sikes.

Sikes screamed with pain, and Basta shouted, "HEADSHOT!"

"Whose side are you on, knife-boy?!" Sikes asked, rubbing his wet face.

"Rylan the snowman was a murderer they say, he was made of snow, and the children know that he'll kill them all someday!"

"There must have been some magic in that old black book he found, for when he read it, then he found dark magic spells abound!"

"OH! Rylan the snowman was as scary as he could be! And the children say he would laugh and play with people's minds like you and me!"

"Whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, hear those bodies drop, whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, with a sickening 'kerplop'!"

"Rylan the snowman knew the sun was cold that day. So he said "Let's go out in the snow, and let people die my way.""

"Down past the police, with a pistol in his hand, running here and there, all around the square screaming 'CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!'"

Selena picked up two snowballs and sent one flying towards Cyrus and the other whizzing past Syndrome's ear. "He lead us down the streets of town right to the traffic cop, and he didn't pause a moment when he heard him holler "STOP!"

"Rylan the snowman had to hurry on his way, but he said goodbye, yelling 'You'd better cry, I'll be back again someday!'"

"Whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, hear those bodies drop, whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, with a sickening 'kerplop'!"

Selena groaned. "How come you guys get songs but I don't?!"

"You haven't written one yet."

"But-but-but- There's no good song left!"

She pelted Syndrome with a snowball.

"Why does Rylan have to be such a kill-joy?"

"Because I can be," he replied, and threw a snowball at Selena.

Being taken aback by the sudden snowball, she stepped back a bit and slid again. "Woaaaaaaah-" And once again she was down. "Damn you, element of surprise!" she shouted, and then quickly made and physically threw several snowballs. None of them made their target. "And this is what I get when I try to play fair!"

---

"So... since you said that being bitchy was kind of fun... would you care to try it again?"

"Hell yeah!"

Syndrome's eyes turned green again. "You know the drill, then, right?"

Selena only nodded, and then, she turned around and headed towards the stairs.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Selena quickly turned. "What's it matter to you, huh? You're lucky I don't kill you after yesterday!"

He chuckled. "And what do you mean by that?"

"You pulling all of that 'subconscious' shit on me?! I swear to God, if you had actually kissed me you would have been dead." She quickly went down the stairs, her coat billowing a bit behind her.

"Stop."

Selena stopped, and growled. "Oi, do you mind cutting it out with the mind-crap?!"

He didn't answer her, instead opting to laugh. "You don't remember... of course you wouldn't." He laughed louder.

"Alright, I stopped." She turned around the corner and continued to head for Sikes's room.

"Come back here and don't leave until I specifically state that you can." He smirked arrogantly.

Selena's expression darkened, but she did as she was told. "What the hell do you want, Big-head-boy?"

He laughed again. "What do you think?"

_I wonder if this is the kind of Synlena Cyrus prefers, or if she likes the 'mushier' stuff better..._

Selena's face twisted. "I. DON'T. LIKE. YOU! How many times do I have to throw it through your giant head?! You are a sick, twisted, strange big man, but you do NOT have my pity!" She put all the force she had into her right foot and stomped firmly on Syndrome's.

"Let me BE, dammit!"

"Ow." He blinked. "Well, it was a nice effort, but that's honestly not that painful, so... Anyway."

She glared at him. "Why the FUCK did you paralyze my telekinesis, huh?!"

"I didn't!" he exclaimed with another laugh.

"I just tried to fling you against the wall, of COURSE YOU DID! Don't play ignorant!"

"No I didn't, that's your subconscious! I said that before!"

"Well then! Tell me why I was able to stomp on your foot, if it's my-" Selena put airquotes around the word and mocked Syndrome. "-subconscious?"

"Because that was your conscious. Your powers are controlled by your subconscious."

"Let me go."

"Nope."

"Don't make me-no, you know what?"

She slapped him.

"I hate you with my-" she stopped, attempted to spit out the word 'entire,' but instead a bunch of syllables spilled out. "en-pie-able-ist- being!"

"...That made no sense whatsoever."

"I meant to say 'I hate you with my-" she stuttered- "en-vol-sin-ary- WHY THE HELL CAN'T I SAY IT?!"

Syndrome laughed. "Because you DON'T hate me with your entire being, and the funny thing is that you don't even know it!" He paused, then added, "By the way I'd also like you to stop hurting me physically."

Selena glowered. "I hate, hate, HATE YOU, SYN-DRONE!"

"The only reason you could say that is because you didn't actually say my name... you do realize that, right?"

"You know what, I'm sick of your conspiracy theories. Let me GO, NOW!"

"No!"

"Why not?!" Selena screamed. She fell to her knees. "Just let me go be with Sikes, huh? Please?"

"You know, if I told you to regain your memories right now- don't, by the way- you wouldn't be saying this. Because in those memories is something you'd never want to face when you're like this."

"Oh, you would know, wouldn't you?!" She shouted up at her tormentor. "You make me relive ALL of my worst memories! And now you're IN one of them! HAPPY?"

"I was TALKING about when Sikes tried to RAPE YOU!" Syndrome yelled.

Selena's face twisted even further in confusion. "Sikes- he wouldn't have needed to rape me-"

"Back then, no... but this is now. You and I are together, you practically despise Sikes, and the only reason you're acting this way is because I stole Rylan's powers and told you to _because I thought it'd be fun_."

"Well, you've had your fun picking at everything, now haven't you? Where as I-" She couldn't continue.

"You what? Tell me."

"I am having fun- wait, what the hell?!"

He grinned. "Thought so."

"What the fucking hell?!" She paused, and then her face shone. "I KNOW! YOU made me say that! I'm not-"

"How could I make you say that without saying anything? I'm not telepathic, you are."

"Exactly! I am, and so I could hear you commanding me to say it!"

"Really... because I don't seem to recall thinking it."

"But you- you HAD to, that's-"

Selena slammed her hand down to the floor. "Stop screwing with my mind!"

"You know, a funny thing just happened there... I just felt a twinge of pity for you... of course it was gone as soon as it came, but hey. It was something."

"You? Feel PITY?! Hah! Like that's possible," she said darkly.

"It doesn't happen often, only once in a blue moon... funny, you're not blue." He chuckled at his lame joke.

"What do you mean by that? That made absolutely no sense!"

"Selena means moon... once in a blue moon? You got more intelligent the more time you spent around me, I think..."

"... I found that so fucking hilarious, I forgot to laugh," Selena spat.

"I admit, it was a dumb joke."

"Wow. The idiotic man gets his own stupidity."

"You know, I just remembered, there's something I always wanted to do back when you liked Sikes that I haven't wanted to do since... until now..."

"I don't want to know, creeper."

"WHAT did you just call me?"

"Creeper. You're creeping me out."

"You're really asking for it, you know..."

Selena stayed silent.

"Hell. I'm pissed enough. I'm going to do it anyway." He smirked. "I never got a chance to do this when you liked Sikes and now that we're on better terms I haven't wanted to... but right now... heh, to hell with it all!" He picked up Selena by the throat and squeezed.

"G-ah-oh-" She looked at Syndrome with pleading eyes. Slowly, the corners of her vision started becoming dark. Her stomach jolted, she suddenly felt sick... she was passing out.

_Stop!_

Syndrome loosened his grip more than a little, but still held her in the air. "Bet that reminded you of Sikes."

"A bit," she gasped.

He smirked. "Thought it would."

"It doesn't make you like him."

"You're right, it doesn't. Seeing as how you'd hate me if it did, I'm glad."

"I swear to God you're ass-backwards."

He smirked grimly. "I'm glad you started liking me, really I am... fun as this was, I'd like to go back to normal now." He set Selena down gently.

"Oh God, Syn, don't scare me like that," Selena said, hugging him. "I seriously thought for a moment that you weren't going to let go..."

"I'd never do that... not if you asked me to stop, anyway..." He hugged her in return. "As much fun as it is to control you, there's an asshole downstairs who deserves it more."

"Seriously, though, that was all fun and everything until you grabbed me like that. And my mind flashed back to Sikes..." She looked down. "You let go, though. So you aren't like him."

"I'm sorry... I was so focused on trying to get your past self to like me that for a moment I forgot that your present self already did..."

"I think that actually gained a little bit of respect there for... my "past self," as you put it. But I'd rather just argue without being controlled from now on, I think. To save us from those situations."

"Alright..."

Selena noted the resentment in Syn's voice. "Hey, I didn't say you couldn't control Rylan or Sikes or anybody like that!"

"Controlling Sikes would be awkward..."

"Would it? I wouldn't know, sorry for bringing it up."

"It'd be pretty awkward, yeah... I don't know what I'd tell him to do..."

"Well then, let's go torture Rylan. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Sounds good to me, I suppose..."

Selena grinned and she proceeded down the stairs, Syndrome following her closely. She knocked on Rylan's door. "Hey, Rylan, it's me..."

"What the hell do you want?" he replied sullenly.

"Got a little... gift for you," Selena said, winking at Syndrome. "Can we come in?"

"No..."

Selena opened the door anyway.

"Well, if you don't want your powers back, fine," she said, door wide open.

"You're not going to give them back, I know that already," Rylan replied, sitting on his bed facing the opposite wall.

"Yeah we will, Syn can't stay like you FOREVER..." Selena said, looking back and forth between her brother and her boyfriend.

"That's not what I meant. I know you have to give them back eventually. I know you're not giving them back NOW."

_How about this. You give them back to him right after you mess around with his mind for a bit? Because this is getting to be really strange. He's NEVER like this._

"Rylan, we'll give them back today."

Rylan did not turn toward the pair or even acknowledge that Selena had said anything.

Selena looked at her brother and sighed. "Well, it was worth trying," she said. "He really doesn't want them back. Let's go..."

"...Selena, he's crying."

"WHAT?!" She shrieked, and quickly turned back. "R- oh holy shit. Oh my-" she stopped. Her brother didn't cry. That just didn't happen... what the hell was going on?

"Rylan, I'm- astounded- you always told me, 'don't feel,' that it was- and you-" Her eyes drooped a bit. "Yeah."

"It's Cyrus's fault, I know."

"How did you know?"

"I forced her to tell me what was going on yesterday. It wasn't that difficult."

"It started out as a spiteful trick, but really, she cares about you now, don't you understand?"

"I know... it's just..." He sighed. "Just... please give me my powers back..."

_Yikes, _Selena thought.

"Rylan, turn around."

"Why?"

"Just do it or I'll fucking make you."

Rylan turned to face the pair.

Syndrome took two steps forward. "Listen, asshole. I don't care if you're crying anymore. I don't care what kind of sob story you have." His eyes turned green. "You've controlled me for too long. It's time the tables turned. First things first, stop whining like a little girl and _be a fucking man_."

"Syn-"

"He's controlled both of us too many times to count, tried to tear apart our relationship... Stay out of this, Selena. Whatever this asshole gets, he deserves."

Selena bit her lip. "Okay."

Syndrome picked up Rylan by his collar. "You're too light, Rylan. You really should put on some weight... that's a suggestion, not a command. You know what I want to do?" He turned slightly toward Selena without making eye contact. "I think it'd be fun to get inside his head and find out what makes him tick." He blinked, then turned back to Rylan. "He's more docile and less likely to fight back when he's controlled, anyway. Isn't that right, Rylan?" He nodded.

"...I shouldn't- I don't want to, he's my brother, and he's FEELING for God's sake!"

Selena was silent for a moment, and then she spoke up again. "But maybe... maybe he does deserve it. Maybe he'll feel remorse- oh, who am I kidding? Go ahead."

"Go ahead? How the hell am I supposed to do that? I don't know how to get into his mind..."

"Oh, right, I said not to control me..."

She closed her eyes and searched for Rylan's mind.

"Don't suppose you can take me along, can you? It might be dangerous in there." He laughed.

"You have no idea," Rylan whispered.

Selena shuddered, but then shook her head. "No, not that I'm aware of, besides you controlling me like he did a couple days ago."

"That wouldn't really bring _me_ in anyway, just you being controlled by me."

"True."

"Rylan, are you aware of any way..."

"You can... sort of go in with my powers... if I want you to..."

"Alright, then let's go."

"But I don't want you to."

"Well, Rylan, I'm not really asking you if I can come in. I'm telling you that I am and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

"...Alright."

Selena winced and closed her eyes again.


	27. Chapter 27

Selena was in a light beige circular room, and appeared to be the only inhabitant, besides many closed doors. "Hallo?"

A small popping noise was heard, and Syndrome appeared beside her. There was a creak from one of the doors, and Rylan poked his head through. He looked rather depressed.

"Gah, everyone shows up at once... it's like when you've got crappy internet..." She looked off at Syn, and then at Rylan. She took a step towards her depressed brother, who was strangely dressed in pink. "Rylan?" She asked.

"What?" he asked quietly. "Are you here to make fun of me some more? To hurt me?"

"No- we're just here to understand more," Selena tried to explain.

"Oh. I can see when I'm unneeded, then..." He sulked.

"Actually, we could use your help."

"Why? Why would you need _my_ help? You've never needed it before."

"Well, you see," Selena started, "We don't exactly know how to get around here. And, I mean, it's _your_ mind."

"Not mine," he responded. "I'm just an emotion. Besides, it's too dangerous out there. I'm not going out there without someone else who knows their way around."

"Emotions are more important than you give them credit for, Rylan," Selena paused. "What sort of dangers are we talking about?"

"I'm not Rylan. I'm Despair. And there's all kinds of stuff out there. Monsters. Hedges that eat people. There are lots of things that eat people. Their minds are lost forever, and Rylan controls them for the rest of their life."

She looked at Syndrome, gave a small shiver, and then looked back the emotion. "Despair... Can't you at least try and help us so we, uh, don't get eaten?"

"Really, I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. We're supposed to report intruders. Rylan's going to be disappointed with me..." Despair began to bawl and ran back into the room from which he'd entered.

"Well that's just great," Syndrome remarked. "Now Rylan's going to be after us."

"Brilliant..." Selena grumbled.

A pair of emotions, one wearing white and the other clad in black, entered while bickering. They noticed Selena and Syndrome and stopped talking immediately.

The one in white looked much more dreamy and off in la-la-land, while the one in black was most certainly hostile.

"What are YOU TWO doing here?" the one in black growled.

"Uh-well-" Selena stuttered.

"Don't mind Hate, really. He's just... overly hostile and doesn't see how great you both are to Cyrus." The one in white sighed contentedly. "Cyrus..."

Selena snorted. "I assume you're Love, then, Rylan-in-White?"

He nodded in response.

"You're intruders. We're supposed to take them to Rylan, Love, and you're conversing like they're your best friends!"

"Well, maybe they'd like a little friendly conversation before they get hauled off. Ever think of that?"

"Yeah, a little friendly conversation would be nice," Selena replied quickly.

"See? I told you. They like it when you talk to them. It takes their mind off of what's about to happen."

"Wait... what? What's about to happen?"

Love just giggled, a creepy sight for any version of Rylan.

"Love, come on. What's Rylan going to do to us?"

"I don't know," he replied, still giggling.

"Can you at least tell me why you're giggling? It's kinda creeping me out," Selena asked.

"Because I know both of those answers but I can't tell you because they're secrets," he said.

"Ah, but the whole thing about a secret is- you've got to keep it secret that you're keeping a secret. And you kinda failed that test."

"Not here. Rylan likes it better when intruders know that secrets are being kept from them. Then they wander off into the outside world and get eaten by hedges, hee!"

"What is it with the man-eating hedges? Does Rylan _like_ them?"

"He thinks it's fun to watch! Lots of us do, especially Psychosis."

Love turned momentarily and noticed a demented laugh coming from behind one of the doors. "There he is now!"

The door burst open to reveal another emotion, this one dressed in green. He had a crooked grin and was emitting insane laughter. "We have INTRUDERS!" he shouted excitedly. _"LET'S FEED THEM TO THE HEDGES,"_ he continued in a much more possessed-sounding, raspy voice.

"Why us?" Selena asked quickly. "Why not anybody else- like one of the lesser emotions that you don't like as much?"

"You're intruders," he restated. "_You shouldn't be here."_

"We're just trying to get to know my brother!" Selena shouted, starting to freak out a bit.

_"The All Powerful One doesn't like intruders..."_

She grabbed Syndrome's hand, and whispered in his ear, "Hate to tell you, but man-eating hedges are on my top ten scariest things list. WE CAN'T DIE HERE!" she rasped.

"Oh, we won't feed you to the hedges straight away," Love reassured. "We take you to Rylan first. Then if he doesn't see a use for you, then we throw you to the hedges."

"Gah, no way to keep secrets here, is there?!" Selena shrieked.

_"The All Powerful One speaks to Psychosis. He says 'bring them to me now, I don't care whether or not they're conscious and see the horrors of my mind.' Psychosis thinks we should knock out the Syndrome and keep the Selena-sister awake so Selena-sister can see the man-eating hedges. Psychosis would like to see her freak out."_

"Hmm. Good idea, Psychosis. Let's just wait a moment for Joy, Fatigue, Rage, and Panic to get here though."

"NO!" Selena said forcefully, trying to keep her fear under control. "Let Syn stay awake too, if you've got to keep me conscious."

_"Why would Psychosis want to do that, Selena-sister? Psychosis LOVES TO SEE SELENA-SISTER AFRAID AND ALONE. PSYCHOSIS LIKES VERY MUCH."_

Selena bit her lip.

_Of course Psychosis would like that, he's Psychosis..._

_"Psychosis hears you, Selena-sister. Selena-sister should not think too loudly. Unless screaming in mind. Psychosis would like that."_

"You want screaming in mind? You got it."

_Damn you fucking son of a bitch, Psychosis!_

_"HeeHEEE! Psychosis thinks curse words are funny! Psychosis likes."_

"Darn," Selena muttered.

There was a sound of a door opening, and a somewhat-jumpy emotion in yellow as well as a cheery-looking emotion in grey came out with a stretcher with some sort of device attached.

They were followed by a tired-looking emotion in purple and an extremely-pissed emotion in red, both carrying another stretcher, this one with ropes on it.

Selena looked at Syndrome and then at the stretcher. She quickly rubbed her eyes, trying to remove all traces of her tears, and faked a yawn. "God, stretcher. Good, I'm bloody tired."

"Oh, you won't be sleeping," the emotion in grey replied. "If you start falling asleep, Psychosis will wake you up by holding your head dangerously close to the hedges."

"But how am I to be prepared for a meeting with Rylan, huh, if I'm so tired..? I think Mr. Purple over there understands what I'm talking about, am I right?"

"I have a name, thank you," he replied. "And I'm sure someone can find something to wake you up."

"...What the hell is that supposed to be anyway?"

"Oh," the emotion in grey replied with a grin. "It's an anesthetic machine. It's very simplified here, but it functions exactly the same."

"Syn..." Selena trailed off. She stared at him.

Syndrome's eyes widened as he stared at the stretcher. "..."

"I love you, even though it was you to get us in this mess-" she gave him a hug, "-I don't fault you for it..."

Psychosis grinned at his opportunity. In one swift move, he grabbed the oxygen mask, got behind Syndrome, and strapped it on, all without missing a beat. The grey emotion flipped a switch on the side, and Syndrome's eyes widened further before he sank to his knees.

"SYN!" Selena shrieked.

The red and yellow emotions helped Syndrome to stand, then the other emotions aided them in placing him on the stretcher. His eyelids fluttered for a moment.

"I'm sorry-" and she couldn't take it anymore. She broke down sobbing. "Are you happy, Psychosis? I know Joy over there is, betcha Hate is too."

Psychosis did not respond.

Yet another door opened once more to reveal Despair once more. All of the emotions' eyes simultaneously turned green.

Selena looked up at the emotions. "We got what we came for, can't you just let us go?! We won't bother you again!"

"No," they replied in unison. "You entered, you cannot leave without seeing the All Powerful One."

"Then take me."

Syndrome moved his head slightly toward Selena. His eyes were still open, but only just.

Psychosis grinned and picked up the rope from the adjacent stretcher.

She gulped, and then put her arms at her sides.

As Psychosis began to tie up Selena, Syndrome made an effort to lift his arm. Upon failing, he just clenched his fist.

Selena looked at him but kept her mind (and mouth) quiet.

_Psychosis... can't hear you now... He's just... an automaton..._

_I'm so sorry Syn, I didn't mean to distract you..._

_From what...? The darkness... creeping in on me...? I need... a distraction from that..._

_No, I meant when I let Psychosis just jump in and... And just take you._

_It would've happened anyway... eventually..._

Psychosis finished tying up Selena and put her on the stretcher, then began to wheel them toward a door.

_Here comes..._

_So... sleepy..._

_Syn, I don't want you to go- I can't face this alone..._

_I'm... so sorry... I... love you..._

His eyes closed.

_He's not dead, he's just asleep..._ Selena thought to herself. _He's with you in spirit- wait, he's not dead- DAMMIT WHY?!_

They were wheeled through the door and instantly, there was a total change in atmosphere. Surrounding them were hedges that were at LEAST ten feet tall and moving. Selena moaned slightly, and a hedge jumped at her, but when it noticed the presence of the emotions, it stayed back, instead sucking in a bunch of bees flying over their heads.

_Probably killer bees. _Selena shuddered.

They made many twists and turns- it must have been a labyrinth. Selena looked down towards her feet- if they had turned the other way, they would have run smack into a gigantic Venus flytrap. She would've wiped her brow but her hands and the rest of her body were firmly wrapped in place. After a little while, they got to the middle of the monstrous maze, where a calm pool of water suddenly rippled. Selena noticed a large fin now sticking out of the water.

_And there's some sharks for anyone who needs water..._

She noticed something with big teeth jump out of the water and then back in it. "Oh, and a piranha. Of course," she mumbled aloud.

They went back into the hedges, but sped up the pace a bit, as if "The All Powerful One" was getting anxious to meet his unwelcome visitors. A patch of grass rustled up ahead- a large, rabid squirrel had jumped out of some tall grass and then hid in the bush as the Emotions continued on their way, not at all fazed.

Selena attempted to turn onto her belly so she could see forwards. She finally got turned over enough to see-

"GIANT LAVA PIT LOOK OUT!" She shrieked.

But they were hovering over it. "Oh... just an illusion. Heh."

Syndrome stirred slightly at Selena's scream, but did not wake.

They were now at a crossroads. Selena looked down one path- she could vaguely see an abnormal-sized cobra slithering about. Down the path ahead of them, there was a great amount of bats- more than likely unrealistically deadly vampire bats- and the path to the right was empty. Surprisingly, the group turned right. "Hey, that doesn't make any sense... isn't the place that doesn't appear to be booby trapped booby trapped?"

She shook her head. "Are we almost there?"

The strechers were pushed down a bit further after a left turn, then halted before a rather large chair. Seated upon it was none other than Rylan, in his original form and clothing.

"Gah, can you untie me now?! And let Syn go?!"

"I'd really prefer not to let him go. After all, I did ask him not to come in, and he did anyway. However, I will allow you to be untied." He snapped his fingers and the ropes were gone.

"Well, gee, thanks," Selena spat.

He snorted. "Ungrateful little brat. I hope the entire ride here has taught you never to return here. Now as for your boyfriend..." His gaze shifted momentarily to the still-sleeping redhead. "He'll have to be taught his lesson separately."

"No!"

Rylan's eyebrows raised. "So you'd rather be fed to the hedge behind you and THEN have him learn his lesson, then follow you? Fair enough."

"Rylan. You've taught him enough- he's doing what YOU do on an hourly basis! You always invade people's wishes, make them do things in spite of their will, and he's learned now not to screw around with that shit like you do!" She turned and looked at Syndrome. "He's in his own personal hell already…"

"I'm not teaching him not to do as I do. I'm teaching him that he shouldn't fuck with me. He doesn't seem to understand that."

"You shouldn't have fucked with him, with us, if that's what your twisted reasoning is! He was seeking out revenge, just as you do, just as I do!"

"Selena, you don't seem to realize that I've got the upper hand here. It doesn't matter what your reasoning is, I can throw you into the hedges at any minute, or even better-feed you to the dragon."

"Dragon?- Gah, damn ADD. Do you want your damned powers back or not?!" Selena asked.

"I could easily get them back even if I threw you and him to the dragon. It would only kill your personality and memories... not your powers, inborn or stolen."

"Rylan, please... please let us go! You know how you feel about Cyrus, well, imagine if one of us killed her- not saying we're going to, we couldn't possibly- but just imagine how you'd feel!"

Love blinked and ran up to Rylan. "Let them go, please!" he exclaimed, shaking his superior's shoulders.

Rylan waved off Love's pleas. "Syndrome won't wake for a while anyway. You may want to take that anesthetic mask off."

Selena ran up to Syndrome's stretcher and took off the mask. "Syn, come on, wake up..."

"Weren't you listening? I just said he won't wake for a while anyway, it has to wear off first."

"Yes, but I was hoping... nevermind. Hope is futile, isn't it?"

Rylan did not reply.

She clutched her boyfriend's left arm tightly. "So. What are you going to do with us?"

"I don't know. I suppose I'll let you go with a warning... that warning being if you EVER decide to go into my mind again, I WILL kill you."

"Don't you worry about that," Selena said, breathing a sigh of relief.

She squeezed Syndrome's hand harder. "You hear that? When you're up, we're home free..."

Syndrome's eyes shut tighter for a moment before he opened them slightly.

"Syn!" Selena laughed- all stress was finally diminished- and then realised she was squeezing a bit too tightly. "Oh, hey, sorry."

"...What happened? Also, did you know that Rylan's mental anesthetic causes mild nightmares?"

"We went through some strange-ass maze with a bunch of deadly creatures and the hedges ate up a bunch of killer bees and we floated over an illusion of lava and then we got here and first Rylan threatened me to the hedge, then a Dragon-can you believe it? A dragon!- and now somehow he's letting us go as long as we don't ever come back!" Selena said quickly.

Syndrome blinked rapidly. "Okay... well, I had nightmares. You don't get that with normal anesthetic. The asshole."

Selena only nodded. "Well, we're outta here. Sorry about all of this, Rylan, although, it has been quite interesting...Syn, you go first."

He nodded and vanished.

"Love..." she called out to the Emotion in white. "Thanks."

Love grinned and waved at Selena.

Selena opened her eyes... back in Rylan's room, safe and sound.

"Okay, Syn, I think it's time to give Rylan his powers back."

Syndrome pressed a button on one of his gauntlets, which sent the probe toward Rylan. It poked him, then returned to Syndrome.

"Never do that again."

"I can't believe it, we're alive," Selena breathed, looking down at herself. "No man-eating hedges to speak of..." she ran up to her boyfriend and kissed him. "We're alive!"

"Apparently."


	28. Chapter 28

The flames were brilliant.

Of course, Selena always thought that whenever she even so much as lit a candle, but... "Gah, dammit, burnt myself!" Selena cursed, blowing out the match before dropping it on the floor of the vehicle.

"Do you mind? That's making me sick. You could set this place on FIRE!" Basta moaned. Selena grinned sadistically and struck another.

"So... just to be sure, let's go over the finalized version one more time."

Selena let the match burn a little bit before blowing it out and putting it in her pocket. "Alright. What's going to happen, is Rylan controls the guards stationed around the theatre and..." she looked for the usual cliche in her mind and then found it- "takes care of them. Then, Cyrus enters the building, armed with her illusionary powers so that she doesn't have to pay.

"Sikes and Basta will keep guard for us- that is to say, anyone and everyone who tries to get in kicks it. As soon as I light the flame- yes, I'm lighting it, Basta's too much of a scaredy cat- Cyrus will illusion everyone into thinking that everything's okay, that they're not burning. She gets out through the front door, you lock the door, and we kick it into high gear. I'll be helping us all communicate as well, if something goes on, you see someone going in that needs to be attended to, for example, I'll get that information to the necessary people," Selena's grin grew. "This is it! The moment we've all been waiting for."

"Bloody 'ell if it is..." Sikes growled under his breath. He looked ready to strangle Selena, but luckily for her, he was on the other side of the vehicle in the front seat, Rylan stuck in the middle.

Selena struck another match.

"STOP WASTING MATCHES!" Syndrome yelled, taking Selena by the shoulders and shaking her violently.

---

"Well... here we are... what we've been working for."

Selena looked out the window. It had been a strangely warm day, not normal for the last day of December. No snow was left over from Christmas, it was as if somebody was watching over the group, making sure they wouldn't be caught. She saw the lit sign, displaying "Miss Universe Pageant Here!" and growled. "I'm ready."

The theatre had definitely grown in size since she had snuck in to the production of "Oliver!" a couple of years ago. It did not look quite right, though… as if someone just threw on an extra wing to make more room for people, instead of going with the way the theatre had been built. Of course, it had been a rushed job. Selena got out of the truck and looked around. The parking had been expanded into the nearby field, and the parking lot where the old grocery store had been was also filling fast. She knew it was a big event, but man. The town's size must have doubled just because of this stupid pageant. She saw hordes of people filing in.

"Well, Cyrus, maybe you should go in first, before Rylan goes all psycho on the guards."

Cyrus nodded as Rylan gave his sister a dirty look. She pulled out a rectangular piece of paper. "Hey, guys, look at my money."

She grinned and walked toward the doomed building.

"Look, Rylan, there are still people going in, we can't just go right away-" Selena was interrupted by a loud sound echoing from what she expected was the theatre.

"Two minutes left until the show starts! Get your tickets now before they're all gone!" a voice blared.

"See, we've only got two minutes before everyone's in their seats for sure, the people are almost all in-" She waved at Cyrus as the group moved slowly towards the theatre- "We can start in just a little bit."

Basta was looking quite jumpy. "I really don't want to do this..." he said.

"Yes you do," Selena replied. "You get to kill people with your knife!"

"Yeah, my knife, that I have to give back to him," he pointed at Syndrome, "because I gave it as a present and that one girl is nuts about presents..."

"You can keep it, honestly I don't mind... and I don't think she'll notice. It's not like I was going to use it anyway."

"What, really? After all those times I tried getting it back from you and was foiled because of her?" Basta kicked a rock. "I think she would notice, actually. But I'm keeping it, then."

"Okay, it's time," Selena said suddenly. Cyrus was now inside, the last person in line. "Let's go."

---

Sikes ripped out his crowbar and grinned sadistically. "Finally, I can murder a Runner..." He grinned even more until a little voice came across his mind.

_Sikes! No blood! The uniform needs to be clean so you can wear it, dumbass._

Sikes groaned, and dropped his jemmy.

"You-you're letting me go?" The guard asked, amazed at his luck. Sikes laughed humourlessly.

"No, you bloody idiot, no."

He thrust his hands onto the neck of the security guard and squeezed with all his strength.

"Gg-ggahgk-" the man gagged, trying to breathe. There was a sudden CRACK, and then the bright green in his eyes died out. He fell limp in Sikes's hands.

_Sikes is done... as soon as he gets the uniform off the body, I'll disintegrate the man so no one ever finds his remains._

"Poor bloke, shame 'e was so green..." Sikes muttered under his breath. "Wait-"

_Never was he seen again..._ Selena thought to Sikes.

_Hey! That works!_ Sikes thought, and then made a mental note of the new lyrics.

He then quickly put on the uniform that distinguished the guards that had been stationed around the theatre.

Basta came around from the other side of the playhouse, clothed in the same garments Sikes was wearing. _I'm done too,_ he thought, and then he licked his knife.

_Hey guys, got news. Sprinkler systems? Completely deactivated._

Selena acted as if she had not seen Basta's strange habit and instead thought back to Syndrome, _Great! Does that mean the alarm going straight to the fire department is broken too?_

_Yeah. These people are burning and there's no way of stopping them._

_Ah-mazing. Thanks!_ Selena grinned, and then turned her thoughts to Rylan. _Ready to clean up?_ She asked her brother.

_I'll start now._ Rylan stared at the body for a few moments, then with just a snap of his fingers, the entire form was encased with darkness.

It was only a few seconds before the body faded completely and the darkness disappeared with it.

_You WOULD stare at a half-naked body, Rylan,_ Selena thought, and then quickly looked about. The pile of leaves, twigs, papers, fuzz, and more twigs sat near the hole that lead underneath the building and into the pit. She barely noticed the random advertisments blaring from the loudspeakers, she was so focused on the job at hand. Suddenly, there was a voice calling from behind her.

"Ohmigosh! Luna and Spencer, right?!"

_Luna and Spencer? Who's she talking about?_ Rylan asked.

A younger teen was waving from the parking lot, shouting at Selena and Syndrome. It was the girl who watched them descend from the sky and take Sikes back to where he belonged. _Nothing!_ Selena mentally barked. _She's a problem child!_

"I didn't know you guys were coming here!"

Sikes looked over his shoulder- it was that one annoying girl, but someone besides the other girl was with her tonight.

"Oh God," Selena breathed as she watched another figure climb out of the car. It was a man who was not much taller than the girl on the other side, but even though he wasn't in costume, Selena knew exactly who he was. "Bill Sykes."

_Wot is it?! _Sikes asked. _D'you want me to murder them?_

_No- Okay, Sikes, listen up. Didn't I ever tell you that you are well known here?_ Selena asked.

_Yes..._

_Well, somebody put on a play and that man portrayed you. Don't you think it'd be like murdering yourself?_

_No, it'd be like murdering som'ne who acts like me._

"Luna, Spencer, what's the matter? You haven't spoken a word!" The girl called out. She and her company was approaching the team of arsonists, murderers, and genocidal maniacs with amazing speed.

"How do you know these folks?" The man asked.

"They saved Gran's life! This guy dressed up like Bill Sykes was roaming the street, and he started chasing after her!" She replied.

_It was her GRANDMOTHER?!_

"Heh, the guy sounds like me!" the actor replied with a nervous laugh. "I didn't honestly think I'd get a following like THAT."

"...Luna, who's that? Are you on guard duty? What's with the man with green-"

"You will remember none of what you just saw," Rylan said, stepping toward them.

"You weren't coming here, you were going home after going to the supermarket. You didn't want to see the Miss Universe pageant. Go home now."

"Oh, come on, I wanted to murder the bloke!" Sikes moaned.

"You didn't hear that. Now run along."

The two turned around and went straight back to their car, and drove off. Selena was silent for a moment.

"Who were those weirdos?" Basta asked.

Selena suddenly went into a fit of coughs that sounded strangely like 'damn character derailment' before she shook her head. "Whoo, excuse me!"

"Well?" Basta asked.

"Man portrayed Sikes here in a musical, girl's grandmother was saved from Sikes... by Syndrome, Cyrus and I."

"Oh, okay," he shrugged as if it were a normal villainous thing to do.

Selena turned to her brother. "Rylan... why did you save them?"

"What, I'm not allowed to have rare moments of compassion for my family? I knew that guy was the one who played Sikes. You wouldn't have wanted him to die. He's not going to... not tonight, not here."

Selena almost choked on her laughter. "Y-y-you?! Have compassion!? WOW, Rylan, Cyrus really has screwed with your mind! Alright, back to the task at hand. Syn, almost done with the preparations for the exits?"

"Well, as soon as you light the place up, I have to deactivate all the escapes except the one Cyrus is closest to... and then she illusions them all and gets out. I'm ready for that part."

"Okay," Selena said, and then turned her thoughts to Cyrus inside. _You ready to get going?_

_HELL YES!_

_Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! _Selena thought with a grin. She pulled out her matchbook and ran to the pile of flammable rubbish.

Striking the first match, it was instantly put out by a sudden gust of wind, which also blew the burn-pile everywhere. Selena groaned, threw the match in what remained of the pile, and summoned the rest back. She struck a second match, but couldn't get the paper to catch fire before her fingers hurt. She cursed, blew it out, and threw the match on the pile again. Looking down at her supply of matches, she realised that she shouldn't have been screwing around with them earlier- there were only two more left.

She sighed, and crossed her fingers before pulling out the third match.

"Please, please, let the third time be the charm..." she muttered as it caught flame.

She dropped the match onto the pile by accident- but suddenly she saw the bits of paper ignite, and the fire soon spread to the leaves, which spread to the twigs. Soon, the whole pile was burning. She used her powers to move the flaming rubbish into the hole. "I just hope the pit has stuff in it like it did during Oliver," she muttered, "otherwise this place won't catch."

She backed away from the building slowly, and then thought to Cyrus, _Alright, the flame's set. Where are you?_

_Right in front of the front exit. Easier escape that way..._

Syndrome stopped for a moment and his eyes widened.

_Oh, no..._

Selena's eyes widened as well. _What do you MEAN, "OH NO?!"_

_Th-they changed the safety precautions since we were here last! You can't shut down one entrance with-without..._

"No," Selena said out loud.

_without shutting them ALL down._

"Oh my God."

Rylan stood, dumbstruck, his features frozen in their shocked expression.

_I'm so fucking STUPID! I didn't think to check beforehand..._

Selena ran to the front of the building, looking in through the gigantic but unbreakable windows. The smoke was starting to billow from the out into the lobby. She looked at Cyrus. _I... I don't know how to tell you this..._

_Tell me what?_

_...The security... it changed... I'm so sorry..._

_Wait, you mean I can't get out?_

Selena could only nod, she couldn't even think straight.

_That's fine._

Selena stared at her with a questioning look for a moment.

And then, without further contact with Cyrus, she knew what she had to do.

_I'm willing to take one for the team. If it means the rest of us succeed... I'm willing to die._

"GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR!" She shouted to the group. _Syn! Take Sikes and Basta to the forest past East Lotus via ZPE immediately! Rylan! You're coming with me, NOW._

Syndrome blinked, then used his zero-point energy on Basta and Sikes and took off via rocket boots, faster than he'd ever taken off before.

The building was starting to show exterior signs of fire, and Selena looked at Rylan. _COME ON, DAMMIT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME!_

_C...Cyrus..._

Selena roared with anger and telekinetically lifted her brother off the ground. She ran to the truck as fast as she possibly could, and put her brother in the other side of the vehicle as she jumped in the driver's seat. "Give me the keys."

Rylan numbly held out the set of keys, staring out the windshield.

She took the keys and put them in the ignition. "Get buckled up, this is going to be worse than Cyrus driving. If ANYONE tries to stop us, I need you to control them faster than you can say Cyrus, d'ya hear?!" With that, she put her own seatbelt on, turned the keys, took the truck out of park and sped off towards Ravensburg.

Rylan blinked, then nodded, realizing that they weren't out of the woods yet (or more accurately into the woods) and he didn't have time to grieve.

---

Cyrus wiped her brow, drenched in sweat. Everyone had finally been illusioned into believing they weren't on fire… and her job was done.

She knew she was going to die, it was the only way that the rest could ever go through with the plan. She didn't mind. She felt sorry for Rylan, but she didn't care that she was taking one for the team.

She smiled at the thought of helping her friends… and then the flames began to consume her, starting at her feet.

---

They soon arrived at Ochre Way with no interference whatsoever from the police- an amazing feat when you're going at least 60 kilometres per hour in town. Selena slammed on the brakes, and yelled at Rylan. "Get inside, get only the most valuable things you and Cyrus have here, and then get back into the truck and wait for me. AND HURRY!" She then jumped out of the vehicle and opened the door to the house that she had known for such a long time. She was never coming back here, not ever. She quickly summoned her music box, Oliver Twist, her teddy bear from when she was a child, and then ran to the computer. _Is it still here?_ the troubled arsonist thought to herself, and then she found the bookmark she was looking for. She printed out a couple of sheets of paper and ran down the stairs with her things and out into the truck.

Rylan came dashing out shortly after and sat down in the vehicle, quickly buckling his seat belt.

"Drive."


	29. Chapter 29

"As you could obviously deduce, we had a... problem back at LCT," Selena started. The group of villains were in Darkwing Forest, just east of East Lotus, and they were on the move. "Technical difficulties with the new security system trapped Cyrus in the burning building."

Syndrome remained silent, staring at the ground, while Rylan sobbed uncontrollably, clutching a redhaired doll to his chest.

"Now, it was just as much my fault as it was Syndrome's, we should've checked it today before we came. However... it didn't happen. This is why caution is always the best when you're trying to take over the world, or if you're trying to kill some little kid, or if you want to get rid of a bunch of people. I want you all to learn from this mistake. Maybe you'll be better off in your own respective worlds." Selena looked at Rylan and stopped, then pulled out the wads of paper she had printed off from the computer.

_I hope this works_, she thought to herself, and then she uncrumpled the wads and started to read.

"Cyrus wiped her brow, drenched in sweat. Everyone had finally been illusioned into believing they weren't on fire… and her job was done.

She knew she was going to die, it was the only way that the rest could ever go through with the plan. She didn't mind. She felt sorry for Rylan, but she didn't care that she was taking one for the team.

She smiled at the thought of helping her friends… and then the flames began to consume her, starting at her feet."

Selena looked up from her papers.

There was Cyrus, standing before them with only slightly-melted shoes.

"Hey, I'm alive!"

Rylan's sobs ceased and he ran to Cyrus, embracing her tightly.

"So... all's well that ends well, right?"

"...basically," Selena said. She turned to the next page. "Basta, you're first. Hopefully you'll go back to your old demeanor when I read you back in."

Basta only nodded as Selena read his part backwards, and soon he had disappeared. She turned to Sikes.

"Sikes, it's been... strange. Just-" she paused for a minute and looked the muscular man over. He was wearing his own clothes again, save for the hat which he had given Cyrus. ."Just be careful when you go to kill Nancy, okay? Don't end up in a noose."

Sikes smirked. "I've avoided the gallows my whole life, girl. I know what I'm doing."

Selena gave him one small smile and then read him back into his own world. She then looked at Syndrome.

"What? Oh... no, you said you wouldn't..."

"I don't want you to have a constant reminder of what's gone wrong," Selena said, tears welling up. "I love you, really, I do. But this is for your greater good-or bad, whichever..."

"You SAID you wouldn't! You told me that as long as I wasn't afraid of losing my memories... you lied to me..." He turned around. "You don't love me."

Selena bit her bottom lip until it bled. She was trying to hold her tears back, but she couldn't... not anymore.

"Syn, I love you so much you can't even understand where I'm COMING from! I want you to live the rest of your life as you were supposed to! I've ruined two stories already, and don't even start that crap about the state of the fiction! Books go on past the end, don't they?!"

"Fine! Read me back and make us BOTH miserable!" he shouted.

"What's all the yelling an' screaming outside my bloody window, eh?! I moved to the forest to get AWAY from the noise!" A voice said through the trees.

Selena jumped and turned. She tried to blot out her tears so she could be certain of the woman's identity, but her vision was still blurred.

"Who are you? What do you want?!" The woman shouted at them.

"...Kay?" Rylan queried, looking over Cyrus's shoulder.

"I asked who YOU were, not who- wait, Quimby? That can't possibly be you-" Kay started.

"No, it's not." Rylan laughed. "I'm his son."

"RYLAN!!! Oh, I've missed you!" Kay's defensive pose immediately relaxed. "And that must be Selena?" She said, pointing at Cyrus.

"Uh, no, Selena's the one you were about ready to hit with the broom, thanks."

"This is my girlfriend, Cyrus," Rylan said, pointing at Cyrus. "Cyrus, this is my aunt Kay."

Kay scrutinized Cyrus, and then finally spoke. "Don't you think she's a bit young for you?"

Selena groaned. "Oi, what am I, chopped liver? Auntie Kay, it's me!" But Kay paid no attention. "Jeez, it's like I don't exist around here," she muttered as she looked at Syndrome, who still had his back turned in her general direction.

"Erm. Kay? Selena's trying to get your attention."

Kay turned towards Selena. "Oh, I'm sorry, almost deaf in that right ear, you know," she said. "Selena, my, you've grown. The last time I saw you, you must've been only a couple of months old. Your brother was always watching over you..." Kay finally noticed Syndrome. "And who's he?"

"Apparently someone who doesn't matter," he replied.

"Oh, darling, don't think that," Kay said, not quite aware of his reasoning, "I tend to forget about a lot of people."

"You MATTER, Syn," Selena said, looking at him.

"Sin? Well, that's a strange name, but hey, to all their own, right?"

He sighed. "Not my real name. Shortened version of a nickname."

"Oh, okay, I see now," the short-sighted woman replied, pushing the glasses up her nose. "So, how do you fit in in all of this? Are you Cyrus's brother or something?"

"He's my boyfriend, auntie," Selena said.

"You too, eh? He seems a bit old for you as well- did your parents never teach you or your brother anything about age-gaps?"

"But ours made sense!" Syndrome yelled. "I would've outlived you and I could have died happy and it would've been like I was actually from here but NOOOOOOO, you CAN'T do that because you'll RUIN THE STORY!"

Kay looked absolutely bewildered by this sudden flare of anger, but even more shocked when Selena yelled back.

"DAMN IT, SYNDROME, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HURT! AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED TONIGHT, DON'T YOU AGREE?!"

"W-wait, something happened tonight?" Kay asked quickly.

"AS A MATTER OF FACT I DON'T AGREE! I WANT TO STAY HERE! I WASN'T HURT WHEN YOU READ HER BACK!"

"Read her back?" Kay turned to Rylan. "What the bloody hell are they talking about?"

Rylan sighed. "It's one of her powers, she can read people out of books and fanfictions and such. Cyrus here almost died but Selena read her out of this fanfiction in time... and she read him out to begin with." He pointed at Syndrome. "And now he doesn't want to go back."

"Oh dear, that's terrible," Kay responded. "Well.. if he doesn't want to go back, why force him?"

"My point exactly," Syndrome replied.

"Because-because-" Selena gave an exasperated sigh, and then collapsed on the forest floor. "...I ruined a story..."

"No, sweetie," Aunt Kay looked at her niece with a smile. "you started a new one. Stories can't be ruined, even if a character goes missing. And, just so long as you KNOW you don't want to leave him for someone younger, someone your age... then everything should be fine."

Selena looked at her aunt but then realised she heard a buzzing noise in her mind. Quickly, she stood up. "Aunt Kay, would you be willing to hide us all from the police?" She asked suddenly.

"Of course!" The older woman replied, and then lead the way with surprising speed to her house.

Once inside, Kay lead the four to her large pantry. "Ugh, this place smells horrible!" Selena moaned quietly.

"Exactly," Kay replied. "If you're hiding in a place where it smells, people won't want to search for you there for long. Now look, down there on the floor there's a little indent in the floor. I'm too weak to lift it myself anymore, but maybe you could? There will be a set of stairs leading down to a small hiding place. You'll have to squish a bit to fit, but I think you'll be fine."

Selena lifted the trap-door to a ninety degree angle and ran down the stairs. There were bound to be spiders in a place this dark, and they were going to be in close quarters, but she heard the minds of policemen on the search for the murderers approaching fast. _Get down here, NOW!_ she thought to the rest.

Rylan and Cyrus dashed down, and Syndrome grumbled angrily before following suit.

Selena shut the door and looked into the darkness. She heard her aunt move a chair around up in the kitchen- she was most likely sitting down, waiting.

_Syn..._ she thought as she heard the doorbell, and the chair scraping again. Another ring came, and she heard Kay's voice calling out, "I'm coming!"

"Well, hello there, ma'am," A voice said from upstairs. "I'm not sure if you heard, but there's been fire down at the Community Theatre. Everyone in the building died."

"Oh, oh no!" Kay feigned, sounding very shaken.

"Yes'm. We heard reports of a small group of shady looking characters coming into the forest, and we need to check your house in case they're hiding."

"Oh, you don't think-"

"No, I don't think they'd have any wish to kill you, but we have no idea what's going on in their minds."

Selena heard footsteps. They were going away from the pantry at first, all over the house. _Syn, I'm never asking you to go back again_, she thought to her boyfriend, squished between him and Cyrus.

In the darkness, Syndrome felt for Selena's distinctive coat sleeve, then hugged her.

_I'm sorry..._

_No, I'm sorry,_ Selena held him tightly as she heard the footsteps approaching the food cupboard. "Oh-" A man said directly above them, gagging. "What do you KEEP in here, rats?" He asked rudely to Kay, but she seemed unperturbed.

"No, but I'm pretty sure some of my cabbage has gone bad, I always have too much."

The man gagged again, and then there was silence for a few moments, until he finally spoke again. "Well-" he gagged, "I think we're done here. They must have turned back somewhere. We will find them, you don't need to worry."

"Oh, thank you," Kay said, and then what sounded like a herd of elephants trampled to the front door. "Good-bye!" The door shut, and Kay added so quietly only Selena heard, "and good riddance!"

An eardrum-piercing scream shattered the silence, and someone was pushing toward the entrance. "OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Rylan shrieked.

Selena's ears were ringing while she wrenched the door open with all of the energy she could muster. It exploded open, and Selena ran up the stairs, Rylan pushing her out of the way. Kay ran to the pantry. "What's wrong?! I thought I heard a small scream?"

"SPIDER!" Rylan screeched, running as far away from the pantry as possible.

Kay laughed heartily. "My, he still hasn't gotten over that? I thought that was just a childhood fear... that and thunder."

Selena brushed herself off. "That wasn't a spider that was crawling on him..." she said with a grin.

Kay looked at her niece with curiosity. "What was it, then?"

"Cyrus's hair."

Kay laughed and then the rest of the group walked into the kitchen and took seats around the table. "So, you burned down the theatre," she said when Rylan rejoined them.

"Yup!" Cyrus exclaimed. "I got caught inside but then Selena read me out. My shoes are melted!"

"Whose idea was this? Yours?" Kay asked, turning to Rylan.

"Selena's, actually. I wish I'd come up with it..."

"Are you all CRAZY?!" Syndrome shouted. "I'm sure your innocent aunt doesn't condone murder!"

"Really? So you took up the business too?" Kay exclaimed enthusiastically, as if she hadn't heard Syndrome.

Selena looked a bit confused but nodded. "It… ran in the family?"

"Well, of course! Quimby, or Q, as he was known, he was always getting into trouble with the law. He couldn't help but burn things down at first, but then Jay persuaded him to go a bit more... dark with things. Those were the days..." the aunt said, her face betraying her for a moment. She composed herself and then continued. "Well, your mother, Alexandria, she had no idea that he actually started the flames that burned down her church with only his mind, but she instantly became infatuated." Kay's eyes darkened. "Of course, your mother was much more hateful than Q had expected. Deep, deep down, Q was a good kid, and just wanted to be accepted. He thought she understood his powers and that was why she liked him." She shook her head. "I haven't heard from him in a long time."

"He... he's dead. He's been dead for quite a while now."

Kay's overall expression fell. "...I guess that makes sense, X being who she was. Angry at the world... I saw it in a dream once, that she killed him, a long time ago. I just thought it was a regular dream. Didn't think anything of it... it was her, wasn't it?"

Selena nodded.

"Wait a minute. She's a Super too?! Oh, man. It's a whole FAMILY of Supers!" Syndrome shouted, quoting himself.

"I'm not that Super," Kay snapped. "And technically, I'm not related. Jay was my husband for a few years... until he left me for someone younger. He was Q's brother, and no, he is not an Elemental."

"You're more Super than I am!" Syndrome retorted. "Everyone in this house is! Why doesn't anyone watch Pixar movies anymore? Augh."

Kay laughed. "Pixar didn't EXIST when I was a child," she said. "And really, my powers are gone. I don't even dream anymore."

"I never had any except for the ones I stole," Syndrome grumbled. "And that's not a power either. That's technology. And you're never too old for Pixar." He made a face. "At least not The Incredibles."

"Wait, I've heard of that one... " The lady scratched her head, trying to remember.

Syndrome propped his head up on his hand, waiting for her to remember who he was. "No one knows who I am..."

Looking him over, Kay suddenly shot up. "You're that kid! Brophy- God, no, that's not it, who would name their child Brophy anyway?- uh...Buddy, yes, that's right. I was flipping through channels and saw you on Disney! Quite an interesting movie, I must say."

"My name is not Buddy," he growled. "And why does everyone think my name is Brophy?!"

"I'm sorry, uh, Sin? That was it, right?" Kay shook her head. "I've got a terrible memory."

"Well... full nickname is Syndrome. She calls me Syn," he replied, gesturing to Selena.

"Right, I remember now..." the woman said, nodding. "So, all of you. You're staying here for tonight, and then tomorrow you should probably head off to the Calhoun Mountains. Nobody would honestly continue to look for you once they got there, it'd be too much hassle. But... there's a problem with sleeping arrangements."

"What's that?" Rylan asked.

"Well, I only own one guest bedroom. Three of you will have to sleep on the couch and chairs in the living room in the back."

"I'll take the couch," Syndrome said quickly.

"Chair!" Selena called.

"Well... I guess I'll take the other chair," Cyrus said.

"That leaves me with the bed," Rylan concluded.

"Well then, now that that's settled, I'm going back to bed for another couple of hours," Kay said, yawning. "You woke me up in the middle of the night, after all."

Selena stood up as her aunt did, and looked at her, a long-forgotten piece of her past. "Auntie... thank you." She hugged Kay, who looked shocked.

"Now now, don't go all goody-two-shoes on me here!" the aunt responded. "You're welcome, but honestly! Get into the villainous character that you've set for yourself, otherwise, you could end up just like your father... and we don't want that."

"More than you think," Syndrome muttered. "Killed by a non-Super who hated Supers... but loved them…"

Selena bit her lip and Kay walked off to her bedroom, not hearing a thing Syndrome had said.

Selena looked at the rest of the table. "So."

Rylan cleared his throat. "I suppose we'll be setting off for the next great misadventure?"

Selena looked at her brother with a small smile on her face. "The great misadventures of the adventurous villains... who knows what they might be?" She paused and then laughed. "We aren't out of the woods yet!"


	30. Epilogue

AN: We're really sad that this ended... but hey, all good things must come to an end eventually...

* * *

"Dear Cyrus,

It's been such a long time since we last visited each other, hasn't it? I have to say, I'm really happy that we're living here in Chickadee. It's such a beautiful place, you know? Surpasses even Lilyport...

How's life with Rylan been since the wedding? I'm surprised he hasn't come by as much as before. Is he controlling you instead? Syn's been really great about everything. We've had our fights, you know that, but overall, he's really done well in withstanding his instinct to murder me. Which, uh, leads me to my next point. This is quite embarrassing, seeing as I only just turned nineteen, but...

Well, I'm pregnant. Not quite sure how it happened, we were.. you know, but it happened and I'm due in September.

Anyway, I hope you're doing well. Miss you!

-Selena"

"Dear Selena,

Things have been pretty much the same around here, you know, mostly stealing things... I'm glad things are going well with you and Syn. Now aren't you glad I took the zero-point?

You're prego?! Congrats! I can't wait to see the first Synlena babeh. =^__^= We WILL be coming down for the birth, even if I have to drag Rylan down there. And I'll make sure he doesn't act up either.

Write back soon!

Cyrus"

And this concludes our tale... for after all, sometimes even villains need a happy ending.


End file.
